Like a weather vane swinging back and forth, a parent's feelings may alternate between hope and despair if he judges his children's future in Christian Science by their present, perhaps variable, disposition toward it. But there is a better way to approach the question, "Will they become Christian Scientists?" It is one that can bring peace to a parent through all the joyful, challenging years of childraising.
We need to learn that the question itself is actually based on a fallacy. As long as one thinks of his child as a mortal, struggling to find his way between material and spiritual standards, the parent can never be sure which side is winning. The way out of the dilemma is for the parent to resist accepting the false belief that man is a mortal, having to choose between good and evil. We can place our children in the kingdom of heaven—see them as God's spiritual ideas. Then if the question arises, "Will they become Christian Scientists?" we can recognize the subtle suggestion the question implies. We can answer, "I refuse to be trapped by that question. They are already the spiritual ideas of God."
Mrs. Eddy's definition of "children" in Science and Health reads in part, "The spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love." Science and Health, p. 582; To place our children in the category of having someday to become Christian Scientists is to deny their already established spiritual heritage as God's representatives.
