Editorial May 22, 1909 Issue

THE SUMMER'S DAWN

John B. Willis

Other things being equal, mankind's most effective helper is he who is best able to discern the signs and possibilities of good, and who does not allow any show of stupidity or false sense to disturb his hold upon the promise of better things in those to whom he would minister. Human nature presents so much of gaunt uncanniness, it is not infrequently so separated not only from the fruits but from the leafage of truth and beauty, that unless one sees beneath the surface, is able to perceive and rightly interpret the intimations of the spiritual life, the primal hints of manhood, he is likely to yield his thought to the habit of judging by appearances, and thus withhold his interest and his sympathy from many whom he might otherwise reach and raise up.

As one looks out into the world and notes the aims, impulses, and habits of individual men, he is often tempted to entertain a sense of hopelessness respecting racial redemption, to think that it is impossible to remove or even to penetrate the ignorance, superstition, and materiality in which the great body of human belief is embedded; hence, in so far as man is reckoned for what he seems to be and what much religious teaching declares him to be in so far the paralysis of Christian endeavor is easily explained. The manifest sense of incapacity upon the part of many people, to make any personal contribution to the gospel-enterprise, however ready they may be to support the efforts of others, is in evidence that, despite Christ Jesus' unequivocal command "to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick," they look upon the undertaking as altogether unpromising.

To all this pessimistic, uninspiring thought Christian Science brings the rebuke of spiritual understanding, the true inner vision of man. It comes, as comes the summer's dawn, to awaken so-called nature to better and brighter things. For many months the trees and shrubs have seemed altogether lifeless; they have been "barren and unfruitful," and if one had judged them from appearances he would have said they were dead; but the voice of spring was heard, and it was the voice of a true prophet and teacher; it made appeal to the imagination and to hope. Its themes were life and growth and beauty, and in its splendid variations upon them it left no chord untouched. Its completeness was yet in miniature, but to the thoughtful and the sensitive it brought a wealth of meaning. It tested the depth and compass of the observer's insight, and to such as had eyes to see it revealed untold riches of truth and beauty. They saw the dainty tints and infoldings of the little buds, and they saw very much more—even the glory of summer harvests and of autumn garnerings; they were not troubled, therefore, with the roughness of the enswathing bark, nor with the nakedness of the leafless boughs, for they were looking forward to and living in tomorrow's good.

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