One who is unacquainted with agricultural pursuits, upon hearing the exhortation of both Jeremiah and Hosea, "Break up your fallow ground,"Jer. 4:3 and Hos. 10:12; might wonder how it applies to him. As used by the two Hebrew prophets, the cogent directive was intended to arouse their hearers and cause them to stir themselves from the unproductive inertia of their thinking and their empty way of life.
Anyone considering this command for further fruitfulness might ask himself where in his thought and mode of living there is untilled or insufficiently tilled ground, dilatory or ineffective thinking. Is he doing less, perhaps, than he is capable of doing? Praying with willingness and expectancy to see how he needs to be activated, the seeker will undoubtedly find some thought where evasion of responsibility can be replaced by forthright action.
Many who have been earnest adherents of Christian Science for one or more growing seasons have delayed in applying for membership in The Mother Church or in a branch church. In cases where the student is ready for membership, as evidenced by his regular attendance at services and meetings and his reliance upon the teachings of Christian Science, there is fallow ground to be prepared, sown, and redeemed to bear fruit abundantly. One of the inevitable components of true gratitude for the benefits that are gained in the study and application of Christian Science is a growing impulsion to participate individually in the rewarding joint accomplishment of church work made available through church membership.
"Digging" is a term that may designate an interval of deeper delving and exploring, active prayer and pondering in conjunction with the Bible, the writings of Mrs. Eddy, and the Christian Science periodicals. For the one who is ready for church membership but has not taken the steps to join a church, perhaps more dedicated mental digging is requisite to uproot weeds of error. Whatever needs to be uprooted is evident either at the outset of this spiritually stimulating endeavor or is revealed as the digging proceeds. To get rid of anything that tends to interfere with spiritual growth makes room for seeds of good to be planted and gives freedom for courageous concepts to sprout and prosper.
This clearing of consciousness consists of unearthing and getting rid of such false traits as selfishness, stagnation, negligence, and ignorance, as well as hate, dissatisfaction, and anger. It is imperative that we keep continued and careful watch to be certain that no vestige of any hindering weed has been left where the breaking up of mortal thought has unwittingly or knowingly been neglected. The soil must be rightly prepared and conditioned if that which is produced from it is to be good.
Mrs. Eddy asks, "Are we clearing the gardens of thought by uprooting the noxious weeds of passion, malice, envy, and strife?"Miscellaneous Writings, p. 343; Later she states, "The weeds of mortal mind are not always destroyed by the first uprooting; they reappear, like devastating witch-grass, to choke the coming clover."
Mental soil is improved by purity and loving-kindness; and righteous zeal, coupled with steadfast purpose, is needed when we do our tilling and planting. In a mentality that is plentifully imbued with vital and vigorous ideas and the desire to share in the rich recompense of church service, the seedling plants flourish freely. That which is growing thrives in soil that is watered, enriched, and freed of encumbering objects; and this holds true for an enlivened sense of service, the newly germinating seed which thankful thoughts have planted. The developing idea, environed in enlightened resolve and vigilantly nourished by right desire and effort, sends forth new growth.
For students of Christian Science at this stage of development there can and should be a visible proof of an inwardly perceived urge to express their thanks for the increase of good that this religion has brought to their way of life. Deep and genuine gratitude is shown forth in overcoming any temptation to neglect a duty or postpone payment of a debt to himself or to mankind and in wholehearted and buoyant uniting in the collective activity of church membership. This is an acknowledgment of his bond of brotherhood in divine Science.
Self-examination—a quiet question and answer session in one's own thinking—is spiritually gainful. Honest and happy investigation, in mental solitude, of one's views and aims, with the whole-souled yearning to be led, discloses and provides loftier goals.
Is there hesitancy to affiliate with the Church of Christ, Scientist? Mrs. Eddy writes, "Your advancing course may provoke envy, but it will also attract respect."Science and Health, p. 452; The divinely dynamic nature of the Christ draws irresistibly those who in humility are seeking indispensable guidance and unfoldment.
The reasoning which led one individual to apply for membership resulted from the reading of two occurrences in the disciple ship of Peter. One is the report in the Gospel of John. Simon Peter replied to Jesus' question to the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" His answer was, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."John 6:67, 68; The other is the account in Luke's Gospel of Peter's permitting himself to be thrice deterred from acknowledging his fellowship with Jesus. This Bible record ends, "And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."Luke 22:62;
The student felt she was at the point of progress where she knew that Christian Science is the Science of Christ, which has "the words of eternal life," and that therefore she could choose no other route. At the same time she came to the certainty that she would be denying Christian Science as the true way unless she actively attested to her alliance with it.
Soon after this, when the Science student had been accepted as a church member, she read and considered more fully a later and deeply impressive conversation between Christ Jesus and Simon Peter. After the triply-stated assurance of the disciple's love for the Master, Jesus emphasized that his followers' love should be shown forth in service, for he urged Peter to feed his sheep. (See John 21: 15-17.)
To give food and drink to those who are hungering and thirsting for the healing Truth, we must employ the Christianly scientific method of cultivating thought and bringing it to fruition. Church membership affords endless opportunities for unselfed undertakings, enabling each one to minister more effectively to mankind's needs. The taking up of such tasks is not toilsome but lightened with love.
Ever-operative divine Mind in its perpetual activity of dispensing good stirs the receptive individual to break up his fallow ground and make it productive. This same Mind, God, maintains uninterruptedly His watchful beneficence and continually upholds the laborer, seeing him through to the satisfying completion of a right task.
When the adherent of Christian Science recognizes that it is aggressive mental suggestion which would keep him from productive tilling and planting and would try to deprive him of a divinely derived gain, he can also perceive how to defend himself against this error. The discernment with certainty that an obedient and progressive step cannot result in penalty or partial blessing is a spiritually energized compulsion that enables him to break up his fallow ground.
Membership in The Mother Church and in one of its branches leads to planting that brings an abounding yield. Acceptance of assignments that come with church membership, with its holy fellowship, entails the purifying privilege of self knowledge and self-effacement. We garner more spiritually scientific achievement. Mrs. Eddy states, "The natural fruits of Christian Science Mind-healing are harmony, brotherly love, spiritual growth and activity."The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 213.
