In thousands of hearts in countless places over the known world an upsurging of praise rises in fuller and fuller volume to certify the might, wisdom, and presence of God as revealed in Christian Science. That this revelation of assurance is finding further acceptance and practical fruition is given acknowledgment repeatedly by those whom it has blessed, through the earnest assertion, "I am grateful for Christian Science." These six words echo round the world through the highways and byways and on the mountainsides.
Various avenues of approach have led and are leading the children of men to the practical sources of divine good as plainly set forth in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Sickness and pain have roused many to a readiness for spiritual thinking. The misery of sin, the ravaging of false appetite, the heaviness of sorrow, the fears of deprivation and death, have again and again turned thought to something higher and more effective than the merely mortal and material. Concern and care for a loved one have often urged the investigation of Christianly scientific means. And numberless times troubled hearts have been awakened to surprised questioning and interested seeking by hearing the six words, "I am grateful for Christian Science." Then as the wideness of God's mercy is shown forth in the operative power of divine law and the inquirer becomes a student of Christian Science, he adds his own expression of thanks to God for this truth and for Mary Baker Eddy, its Discoverer and Founder.
A young woman inquiring into Christian Science rebelled at an estimate of God as good. She said: "Either God isn't good, or He doesn't govern. Otherwise there would be no war." She was asked to think for a moment of all the mistakes on school blackboards and papers, also in household accounts and even at times in business accounting. When the question was submitted as to the verity, soundness, and extent of the principle of mathematics, she agreed that it is an unwavering principle and that it governs the science of mathematics at all times. The principle, obviously, was not responsible for the errors, nor for the consequences of the adoption of any of those errors.
She accepted with gladness the assurance that God—omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent—is changeless Principle, divine Love, and never fails His children. She studied the definition of God given in the Christian Science textbook and expressed thanks that she could now feel certain that there is a God to know and to trust. She also found understandable the fact that gratitude to God would enable her to discern more of His guidance and care.
Because gratitude is a vital element in the demonstration of the truth, the belief of enmity, or evil, would offer every persuasion and present every provocation for its omission. The Christian Scientist, however, detects this lure and dispels it. When a temptation to silence obtrudes into a Wednesday testimony meeting, this is recognized by the student of Christian Science as the insinuation of evil, as if to say, "See, they have nothing here." Voices are then lifted in praise to God, gratefully acknowledging the healing power of Christian Science, thus invalidating with overwhelming evidence the baseless charge of error.
It is not a difficult thing to testify openly to the healing power of Christian Science in the ways provided for by our Leader. It is simple and natural. The Christian Scientist longs to help another, and so forgets himself. He therefore fulfills the assertion of the Psalmist (Ps. 40:10): "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation." It is thus that the despairing one, come doubtingly to hear, becomes quiet to listen and to hope.
The activity of gratitude includes a certain reconnaissance maneuver in the thought of each one. It sweeps the field of past endeavor, acknowledging, in spite of discords, the glad occasions of proof and accomplishment, good discerned, safety established, peace of heart attained. This recognition moves easily toward an avowal of benefits.
The state of thought known as gratitude is often indicated by words, but it cannot be satisfied with that alone. Mrs. Eddy says, "Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks" (Science and Health, p. 3). Obedience to God's law is in itself a prayer of gratitude. God is Spirit, and spiritual thinking is obedience to Spirit in its consciousness of true Life and brotherhood and is, therefore, gratitude to God.
In loyalty to God we purge the stowaway thoughts of rebellion. We do not consider ourselves martyred when there are problems to solve, but rejoice to know that we are blessed with a God-given equivalent to any need. We do not believe that in standing honestly with Principle we could be deprived of desirable activities, experiences, and associations.
It is not what confronts us, but what we do with it that denotes our standpoint and augurs well or ill for us. We have rightfully the consciousness of living in the kingdom of Spirit and can endure with grace the exactions of the hour. How can we be impatient when there are so many glorious ideas with which to fill our thought? It is the thinking that is important, not where we are humanly, nor with whom we are. It is the activity of divine thoughts, held in holy contemplation and understood to be empowered by the all-knowing Mind, which results in right occurrences. This is certainly important employment! Impatience imprisons us. Thanks to God bring release. To be not weary in well-doing is evidence of true gratitude.
Only with the humility of utter reliance upon God can we expect to proceed intelligently. That was the teaching of Jesus. In this, too, our Leader pointed the way. Humility is the purest element of gratitude. Humility unselfs thought, ennobling it. Motive is the pivotal point in all decision and action.
We understand in Christian Science that God is good. Therefore all that we can have today, and tomorrow, is good because God is infinite and eternal. There is then no doubt, but instead, rejoicing. Real joy must always be based upon an apprehension, an appreciation, of the goodness of God. It signifies trust, wherein we learn to lean upon the infallible might and unswerving tenderness of divine Love, rest in its strength, find provision in its exhaustless resources.
Gratitude accompanies love of God. Some years ago there appeared an unpleasant growth on the cheek of a small child whose parents were Christian Scientists. Treatment in Christian Science was begun, and the little girl became and continued to be comparatively comfortable; but the growth, after some lessening at first, began to increase in size and to present an ugly picture. The mother had made an honest effort to cleanse her thinking and was stanchly maintaining in consciousness the circulation of such angel thoughts as faith, joy, forgiveness, gratitude, and love. She was doing her part.
One evening the practitioner asked to see the child's father. This young man loved Christian Science, but had become rebellious over certain situations and had turned away, temporarily, from what he knew, so that his ability to think truly was not being used. He was reminded of the little daughter's love for him and of her trust in his care for her. The highest and indispensable care was seen to be scientific prayer, and he was asked to go down on his knees mentally that night and in all humility to pray even more selflessly than he had ever done before, because the need was very great. He responded earnestly.
The next morning the growth was well cleared, and the healing was soon complete. Before this young father's humility and holy purpose the beliefs of discord, self, fret, and fear were dissolved to make way for the true gratitude which results from loyalty to Christian Science and from trust in God's love.
Mrs. Eddy asks in Science and Health (p. 3), "Are we really grateful for the good already received?" Surely, as students of this Truth, we have reason often to say aloud, and more often to say in our hearts, "I am grateful for Christian Science."
