Article September 4, 1909 Issue

LESSON FROM A STONE

LYDIA CUMMINS

A stone-carver who made his home with us one summer, occupied his spare moments in carving the frame of a clock from stone, and on the top of this frame he had designed the figure of an Egyptian slave. I watched the work with great interest. At first it seemed to progress very rapidly, till at last only the skilled eye could could see anything yet to be done. One day after having noted many evenings of steady work, I asked the carver if the figure was not completed; that I could see nothing more which could add to its beauty.

He smiled—perchance at my ignorance—and said that there was yet much to be done—that the expression of the face was certainly an unpleasant one, and if left in that form would be a poor illustration of his skill. He added that the figure when finished would have a curl lying on the shoulder. In astonishment I asked him where he would get the material for the curl. His answer was, "It is all there now. All I have to do is to carve away the stone around it."

His answer gave me plenty of food for thought. How like my growth in Christian Science it seemed! How rapid the progress had appeared at first,—the ailments one after another disappearing under a practitioner's faithful work. It then seemed as if the rough corners of materiality were disappearing so rapidly that the work would soon be completed; but as we progress in our march Spiritward we become awakened to the need of more careful work, and as the understanding becomes clearer, we are enabled to discern more quickly the difference between the true idea and the mortal concept. I could see that God's idea or reflection can express nothing but happiness, harmony, and perfection; that any other seeming expression was simply our own incomplete work—beliefs in matter not yet overcome. God's perfect child does exist however, even though that perfection is hidden from our gaze by material belief.

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LOVE AND LAW
September 4, 1909
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