How many times have we all rebelled against a dissenting vote on some cherished plan when someone has admonished, "You can't do that; it wouldn't be practical!"
One day a little girl, who was recovering from a dread disease of the legs, saw a pair of high red boots with white ermine lining. She lived in a cold part of the country, and the boots looked warm; but more important, they were beautiful. She felt she could surely walk if she had those boots. Her father, who was a very practical man, broke through the limitations of restraint and said, "They are not practical, but I will buy them for you if you will promise to try hard to walk." The girl, whose heart was filled with joy at the wonder of the red boots, forced herself to walk in them just to prove to her father that it was not a foolish expenditure. The experience was practical because it furnished a mental stimulus that broke her fear, and she took the first steps alone she had taken for many years.
Christian Science came into the life of that young girl and healed her of the effects of infantile paralysis, and with the healing came a better understanding of the word "practical." She learned that it means active, available, useful, working, and that it may be used to refer to actual performance or application of knowledge.
