Article December 19, 1908 Issue

A SIMPLE LESSON

ADELA S. HAWLEY

I had gathered a bunch of lovely fresh roses to replace those which had been cut two or three days before. Upon entering the room I looked at the roses in the vases, and the thought came, If I had known these were still so beautiful I should not have gathered fresh ones. As I took up the vase, however, the petals of many which were most beautiful in appearance fell to the floor. As a few had stood the handling, I thought to leave them and put the fresh ones in among them; but when I did so the brightness and perfection of the freshly gathered roses made the others look faded and sorry. I found that in order to express harmony in the arrangement of my flowers, they must all be of like purity and freshness, so I took out all of the old ones and left the perfect blossoms clustered together, expressing unmarred fragrance and beauty.

As I did so, I thought, What a lesson! How like each individual's experience in coming into Christian Science. We are apt to consider the blossoms of belief quite satisfying and really beautiful, until we have gathered and enjoyed a few of the real blossoms of the truth. When, with these first perfect blossoms of thought, we go to our mental vase (human consciousness), thinking to empty it of the old and fill it with the perfect ideas of Truth, we may be tempted to think, Why, these beliefs are very beautiful; I scarcely need empty them out. But if we are in earnest, and have realized for a moment the beauty and purity of Truth's ideas, we will bravely face the situation and examine our thoughts more closely, to see if they can stand the test, and lo! as the petals of the roses fell to the floor, so these old beliefs will many of them fall to the ground at the first touch of Science.

If, as in the case of the roses, we find that some of the old beliefs seem to stand the first touch of Truth and remain for a brief space, as we gain a clearer view and a larger desire to express harmony—more love for the perfect models of Truth—we shall soon see that the old beliefs of the flesh are made to look sorry indeed when we attempt to place them beside the pure concepts of Science. At first we feel a pang at casting away the old, for it sometimes means to "set aside even the most cherished beliefs and practices" (Science and Health, p. 141); but erelong this thought is changed, and we feel a sense of joy as we see them disappear one by one, and their place taken by the creations of good, which unfold with each day into new beauty and which grow more lovely the longer we look, upon them.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Poem

A CHRISTIAN'S GREETING