A mother who is a Christian Scientist seemed to have great difficulty getting her children up in the morning. She finally formed the habit of greeting them with this lively challenge: "Wake up, wake up, the world has need of you today!" Although it was spoken in fun, she gradually saw in it a spiritual message.
It reminded her of the question Jesus asked in the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. He said: "What think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" The answer, of course, is the one his listener gave, "The first."
The world has great need of consecrated workers in Christian Science. If the call of the Master came today, how many of us would be found victims and how many conquerors of the subtle arguments of apathy and procrastination in response to his entreating command, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" (Am. Stand. Ver., Matt. 10:8)?
This command was so vital to Mrs. Eddy that she had it imprinted on the cover of all her books, as part of the registered trademark of Christian Science. The words, encircling a cross and crown, are familiar to every reader of Mrs. Eddy's books. Is the earnest student of Christian Science fully awake to this command and to his God given ability to fulfill it?
In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes under the marginal heading "Spiritual awakening" (p. 95): "Lulled by stupefying illusions, the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours. Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth."
Since it is spiritual sense which awakens us to man's divine purpose and infinite possibilities, how important that we attain this sense! It is a pure state of thought, an eternal faculty, which is realized with the coming of the Christ, or Word of God, to the human consciousness and it acts to lift us into the kingdom of heaven, eternal harmony. From a human standpoint, spiritual sense is gained through consistent and persistent effort. Success depends on our willingness to wake up, to work without fear or discouragement to overcome the false, mortal sense of ego and to let God be the only I am there is for you, me, or anyone.
Spiritual sense reveals each day as bringing us clearer views of God and of man as His image and likeness. Thus we catch glimpses of the fact that, as Paul wrote to the Philippians (2:13), "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." In the light of this understanding, we gain a renewal of purpose and feel an expectancy of good that banishes the sluggishness of mortal mind.
Apathy is mortal mind's indifference, not man's indifference. It is a lack of deep love or feeling, which is clearly the opposite of man, who is one with infinite, ever-present Love. Procrastination is a lie also, being a denial of God's omniaction. Not only tomorrow, but today, good is at hand, operating in our behalf. Apathy and procrastination have no power to interfere with man's God-directed, fruitful activity.
As the pace of material living is stepped up, the Christian Scientist must work more diligently than ever to uncover the lying nature of the aggressive suggestions of mortal mind. So many material advantages are being presented to us and to our children in the name of progress that we feel we ought to avail ourselves of them all. But each Christian Scientist should stop often and evaluate his work and see what the world is demanding of him and what it really needs of him. When his work becomes for him an opportunity to practice the truths of Christian Science ever more successfully, he is working for God, not for men, and the rewards will be great.
A look into our busiest days may reveal too many hours spent in mental blankness or dull automation. If we would acquire the habit of looking for these wasted moments, making metaphysical use of them, we should increase our strength and efficiency for the physical work that must be done.
The writer recalls that at one time she dreaded tiresome bus rides to and from the city each day, so she decided to dedicate these hours to a joyous acknowledgment of the truths of being. This proved to be so refreshing that she could scarcely wait to get on the bus and start this inspiring work. At first she simply repeated to herself loved statements from the Bible and Science and Health. Gradually she awoke to the presence of countless spiritual ideas which led to such an uplifted state of thought that she was able to correct errors she had previously been unaware of.
Later, she decided to put this delightful practice to work in her home and discovered that instead of hating the endless job of ironing, she was actually looking forward to the hours it afforded her of refreshing communion with God and to the opportunity to memorize many of the helpful definitions in the Glossary of Science and Health.
During one of these sessions of ironing she heard her baby cry in the nursery. She went quickly to the child's crib and found the baby strangling. The picture was frightening, but she found herself turning away for an instant and declaring aloud, "God is right here!" When she turned back to the crib, she discovered the baby had coughed up a bobby pin and was once again smiling as though nothing had happened. How grateful she was for the powerful presence of the Christ, Truth! She realized that because she had been so very close to God in her thought, she had been able to reject the picture of error instantly.
Alfred Tennyson once wrote:
More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of.
And in Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy devotes an entire chaper to the subject of prayer. There she writes: "Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind" (p. 1).
After the writer had class instruction, she felt a recurring desire to work more earnestly for the Cause of Christian Science. But she seemed to be burdened with a perpetual sense of exhaustion from physical pressures. She was unable to concentrate on the daily reading of the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly. She began to overlook this important work if her day was too crowded with other things. At last she prayed earnestly for some proof that the hours spent in conscious communion with God did always bear fruit, although she could not see the results herself.
That week the Lesson-Sermon included this passage from Jeremiah (23:29): "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" She felt suddenly awake and alert, conscious of God's omnipresence. She saw clearly that God's Word is a fire burning up the chaff of error, but never destroying anything good. And for this she thanked God.
How important for ourselves and for others that we wake to the truth, to the potential of good that is waiting to unfold to our consciousness! Let us all contribute to some part of God's great work today and believe in its efficacy. If we do this, tomorrow will take care of itself, growing out of the joyous accomplishment of today.
A verse from the Christian Science Hymnal reads (No. 41):
Come, labor on:
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain?
While all around him waves the golden grain,
And to each servant does the Master say,
Go work today.
