Article May 15, 1909 Issue

PROGRESS WITHOUT SUFFERING

VIOLET KER SEYMER

Assuming that a Christian Scientist has reached the point where he daily strives after reformation and complete redemption from sin, granted that he is willing to make every sacrifice for holiness, and to subordinate every lesser desire to the supreme one of working out his salvation, should this warfare seem to be grievous and discouraging? Our text-book tells us that "progress takes off human shackles," that "progress is the law of God," and that "there should be painless progress" (Science and Health, p. 256, 233, 224). It is significant that our Leader, who is ever speaking the word in season, should be withdrawing, here and there, certain expressions indicative of painful progress such as formerly found a place in our text-book. As far back as 1896, when "Miscellaneous Writings" was published, Mrs. Eddy tells us that she sought to remove "the pioneer signs and ensigns of war, and to retain at this date the privileged armaments of peace" (Pref., p. xii.).

Even while students of Christian Science are faithfully resisting the claims of evil and compelling them to flee before Truth, perhaps some gloomy theological superstition yet suggests to them that the effort is irksome, because it is seemingly so difficult to do right, and so easy to do wrong. This is a topsyturvy suggestion, for if such were indeed God's plan, the reward of virtue would be perpetual effort, and heaven and hell would seem to be forever allied, instead of forever separated. If the theory that righteousness involves suffering were accepted as true, and were pushed to its logical conclusion, it would be found that God Himself in causing us to do right is exposing us to suffering, and that He Himself is the greatest sufferer of all! Since no penalty attaches to God for right-doing, none attaches to man either. It is resistance to the right which causes mortals to suffer, as when selfishness seems to make a kind action labored, whereas it should be spontaneous.

Until Christian Science showed us that evil alone punishes the evil-doer, in so far as it deprives him of man's birthright of sinless joy, we believed God to be the castigator, quite forgetting that His ideas have never fallen into temptation nor needed correction. The evil one sometimes whispers to faithful Christians that, since they are ceasing to suffer from wrong-doing, they will now suffer on account of right-doing. Suffering seems to be the evil one's way of preaching the gospel, but this fresh plea is only another attempt to delude mortals into placing God's seal and sanction upon discord. The spiritual plan of creation, as revealed in our Leader's inspired analysis of the book of Genesis, provides for no suffering, because it includes no evil whatever.

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