Article January 30, 1984 Issue

Maintaining a good "build"

HOWARD NOBLE CHASE

Instructing his helpers on the basics of building with fieldstone, an experienced stonemason always stressed this point: "Don't spend time hunting for a stone of ideal size and shape. Make do with the stones you have at hand; you'll be surprised how adaptable they are. But be sure to keep a good build." After having the learners apply their developing skill without his oversight for a while, the mason pointed out areas that would have to be taken down and relaid before the wall could be securely built up to the required height. "That's what I meant by keeping a good build," he explained. "Keep a structure that you or someone else can carry through to completion."

The same necessity applies in anything we undertake—practically, intellectually, morally. Our work must hold up, despite the downward pull of gravity (if we're builders), of contrary human opinion, or of peer pressure to abandon moral standards. "We cannot build safely on false foundations," Science and Health, p. 201. writes Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health, the textbook of Christian Science. Practical application of scriptural truths and their spiritual signification given in the textbook—an application that includes obedience to God's moral law—affords us the only genuine satisfaction obtainable.

When Nehemiah got time off from his regular job to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, all manner of hindrances kept popping up to delay the work. Much of the hostility took the form of suggestions and threats; for example, "What do these feeble Jews?" and, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." But the workers refused to be intimidated and kept steadily on, praying, "Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head." Neh. 4:2–4.

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