Article October 16, 1909 Issue

TAKING UP THE CROSS

REV. GEORGE R. LOWE.

As a youth the writer was impressed with the demand which Jesus made of his followers to take up the cross. When the call came to "preach the gospel," it was found irresistible; and timidity, fear of breaking down publicly in the attempt to "preach," and a sense of lack of language in which to clothe thought, all were overcome in a way which has ever seemed wonderful to him, and which he now knows to have been a manifestation of the power of Mind. But it was soon found that pulpit preaching was but a small part of the cross, and grave defects arose regarding the interpretation of "the gospel," which had been received at first with unquestioning faith in tradition.

A course of many years of study in a university and theological hall, while it indicated lines along which the reconciliation of faith and reason might be sought, raised many more questionings regarding the gospel as preached modernly; and experience brought many doubts as to the efficacy of the usual forms of public worship, such as audible prayer, the material observance of the sacrament, and the preaching of a gospel whose wings were clipped by doubt, because no verifiable understanding of the life and works of Christ Jesus was found. A sort of "ethical gospel" was not enough. Traditional standards of belief and creed were outgrown. And yet the call of Jesus to his disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me," was clear and emphatic as ever, reaching across the centuries and appealing to the true and heroic in man now and forever. But how could it be done?

The answer was found in Christian Science, the whole gospel of Christ Jesus, the spiritual interpretation that reconciles faith and reason, revelation and logic, Christianity and Science, verifying their unity by demonstration. Part of the self-denial involved in my case was the giving up of pulpit preaching, the outlook of "kirk, manse, and stipend," in order to become equipped for the higher ministry demanded by "the higher criticism," the higher gospel of Christ's Science today. Part of the cross was the misunderstanding on the part of friends, college-mates, and others. But Christ, Truth, has higher compensations for those who would follow the higher way, the rewards and friendships of a higher usefulness being a part thereof. To learn to heal sickness and sin, to prove the Christian method, opens up ever-widening avenues of good,— peace, joy, service, praise. Christian Science does not involve "a trick of evading the cross," as some critics would say. It does not say, This is an easy way; walk ye in it, and glide smoothly along. It does say, Learn of the Christ the right way, which is the way indicated by his words: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light," but which is not a way of ease. It requires effort, the carrying of the cross, readiness to encounter any extremity, — to be a man, unafraid and heroic. In a word, it appeals to manhood in the Christly way.

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