[During the past few years the governor of Massachusetts has annually issued a proclamation calling upon the people to assemble in their churches for the observance of Lincoln Day, and because of this The Mother Church and the branch churches in this state have each year held an appropriate service.
It
is well known to the student of Christian Science that individual thought expands to the fuller and higher meanings of the terms employed in expressing the truth, as the study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook is earnestly pursued.
Several
years ago a friend made the remark that it would be very tiresome and monotonous if people were all good, all alike, as they would have to be if they believed in Christian Science.
There
is a negative holding-on, prompted by human will and self-interest, which we are very prone to mistake for the positive grasp, born of spiritual understanding and insight.
The lawyer quoted in yesterday's Eagle says: "It is the duty of the community to prohibit the practice of medicine or healing by Christian Scientists and by all persons who are not properly qualified according to the common understanding.
It is to be regretted that a Christian clergyman with a reputation such as that enjoyed by this critic of Christian Science should deem it necessary, in his endeavor to build up his own conception of the Scriptures, to attempt to discredit other Christian beliefs.
When our critic talks of Christian Scientists having "the audacity" to treat cases the "symptoms of which they do not know," he is forgetting the interesting fact that there has hardly ever been a case of sickness healed in Christian Science, after the failure of the medical profession, the effect of which has not been belittled by the statement that the original diagnosis was a mistaken one.
The idea that Christianity is good for the body as well as the soul of man has been relegated to the background, and a great part of the church has contented itself with an expression of belief that the age of miracles had passed and explained the statements made to Christ's disciples about the ability to heal diseases as being confined to those early days, or else maintained that the spiritual healing was the most important work.
The "sensational incident" at the Young Men's Christian Association service is to be deplored, and no one regrets it more than the friend whose zeal for the moment got the better of his judgment.
In glancing over the pages of the great daily newspapers of this country—the journals of immense circulation and corresponding influence—the average right-thinking man is often moved to wish that there was less of enterprise and more of morality in the business of journalism.
Be
they erudite or ignorant, good or bad, clever or commonplace, there is no diversity of opinion among men respecting the truth of Jesus' words when he said, "Blessed are the pure in heart;" the exaltation and the supreme desirability of such a consciousness admit of neither denial nor doubt.
In
reply to inquiries that have been made I wish to state to the Field that the fund for the erection of an extension to the Publishing House made necessary by the publication of The Christian Science Monitor is not complete, and that further contributions to this fund sent to me will be welcomed and promptly acknowledged.
A number of pages have been added to The Christian Science Journal during the past few months and the weight of the magazine has thus been increased to the point where it now requires three cents.
It is difficult to realize that the simple experiences in Christian Science healing are as important as the greater ones, although they prove the same underlying truths, viz.
About fifteen years ago my health began to fail with stomach trouble and a complication of diseases, and although I had good medical attention I got only temporary relief.
I applied for Christian Science treatment in a case of dentistry, with the result that all fear and dread were completely overcome and I had twelve teeth extracted in less time than it takes to tell this, with scarcely any pain or flow of blood.
About six years ago, after studying Science and Health for several years as best I could, and knowing that wonderful healing was done by Christian Science, it occurred to me to try to help myself in the case of my hands, which had troubled me for twenty-seven years.
For twenty-five years I suffered with what the doctors termed catarrhal disease of the stomach, taking medicine more regularly than I ate, for I could eat very little if at all.
I feel that if I did not tell others of the wonderful help which I received recently, through the understanding of Christian Science, I would not deserve to have another blessing.
The Christian Science Text-Book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
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