Article March 22, 1900 Issue

An Illustration

BY J. E. FELLERS

Since I began the study of Christian Science, I have often thought of the old field thistle that grows on the farm to the great annoyance of the farmer, who can never tell whence it came. One peculiarity of this weed is its rapid propagation. If it is allowed to grow, one stalk will seed a large field in two seasons. Another peculiarity of it is, that if you handle it gently the bristling thorns will sting you intolerably, but grasp it firmly and the pricking is not felt at all.

This weed is a type of sin and disease, in that they multiply rapidly if encouraged or even acknowledged as having power. Deny their existence in a faint, half-hearted manner and they will sting you into a belief that they are real and powerful; but when you declare earnestly and confidently that they are powerless and mindless and that an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God is the only power, they lose their sting and are easily exterminated.

After the thistle has been uprooted and destroyed, one stray seed will occasionally be found sending forth another stalk, but it in turn can be destroyed until finally no sign of re-appearance is seen. In like manner, intimations of disease and sin will come back to our consciousness from time to time with whisperings of unrest and discord, but the watchful Scientist knows how to reduce them to nothingness.

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