Article May 29, 1909 Issue

OUR LIGHT SHOULD BE SEEN

LOTTIE M. ST. CLAIR

Jesus said to his disciples: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." These words of our Master show us the necessity of unceasing labor. "Ye are the light of the world;" that is, the truth which each of us has grasped and made his own is a light to guide him and others out of the darkness of materiality into the realm of the spiritual, the real. If each one's light, i.e., all the truth he knew, were put into practice,—lived every moment,—and all our lights were shining as one, the resulting radiance would dispel earth's gloom and annihilate all mortal dreams.

The light of Truth is set on a hill. We must rise above the valleys of depression and the mists of sense and reach a height from which our light can be seen. The glimpse of the truth which you and I have discerned and proven, be it ever so tiny a ray of light, is eternal; we can never lose it. Then, why do we ever seem to be in darkness after we have proven somewhat of Truth? Is it not because we have covered our light (our understanding of Truth) with a bushel (a measure of evil or error), so that its rays no longer penetrate the darkness of the error we are holding in thought? Thus for a time we may be plunged in darkness, and some needy one who is standing near may continue to suffer because he cannot see our light.

There is never a time when the Christian Scientist can afford to let the light that is within him be darkness, for the "poor" we have always with us. We may never know how much we might have helped another had our light been brightly burning instead of being so dimmed with error that our neighbor failed to see its gleam in time of need. Let us not hold on to the discarded garments of sin, when once Truth has shown us what they are. Let us turn forever away from them and refuse to allow them to touch us again. If we have parted company with the world, the flesh, and the devil, let us persistently remain separate from them, for to return to that which we know to be sin is to cover our light with a measure. If our besetting sin is a cruel, blighting, unreasonable temper, shall we rid ourselves of it by indulging it under any circumstances?

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