Editorial May 21, 1910 Issue

PERSISTENCY

Annie M. Knott

Persistency is that mental quality which distinguishes the successful worker in any direction, for it is seldom indeed that even the most intelligent and conscientious effort secures at once the desired result. In no other line of endeavor is persistency more necessary than in the effort to escape from the limitations and miseries of materiality, through the understanding of divine Principle as revealed in Christian Science. It is true that many are healed at once of some distressing form of disease, through the recognition of the fact that evil has no place in the kingdom of God; but the working out of life's problem still remains and impels them to go forward, for Christian Science shows that the establishment of this kingdom on earth is an obligation which rests upon all Christians. It is true that Christ Jesus healed the sick, reformed sinners, gave sight to the blind, and even raised the dead, but the complete program of Christianity will not be demonstrated until everything which is unlike God and harmful to man has forever disappeared, to make place for the things that are of God, hence good.

There are some to whom even the physical healing comes slowly, and it is usually found that these persons depend to a large extent upon the efforts of others and have a very uncertain grasp of the great spiritual realities represented in health and freedom. They may read the Bible and Science and Health by the advice of friends or practitioners, but all the while there is a tendency to dwell upon past suffering, to note every discordant symptom, and to be constantly inquiring whether any cases similar to their own have been healed. This is certainly not a promising attitude, and it should be changed as soon as possible. The true work of the Christian Science practitioner is to help people to help themselves by apprehending and utilizing the truth of being, and it is no less discouraging for the practitioner than for the patient to have long-drawn-out experiments. There are possibly no two cases quite alike, but each treatment should bring at least some measure of freedom, and the patient can then go on and apply his realization of the truth for himself, seeking further personal aid only when this is necessary.

Some very interesting experiences, illustrating the value of persistent individual effort, come to us from the field. One case is that of a woman who had suffered terribly for years. The Christian Science text-book was brought to her, and she read it through five times before perfect healing was realized. At the third reading of the book there was even a seeming aggravation of the conditions, but she was certain that divine Truth was at work and so she persisted until the goal was reached. Another case was that of a man who continued to suffer a good deal for a year, although some troubles had been overcome at the start and a wonderful glimpse of the truth gained. He, too, persisted in holding to the truth, through "good report" or "evil report," so far as sense testimony was concerned, and the result was the same as in the first case cited. The writer knows of a woman who was stricken with smallpox during an epidemic of that disease, and after a member of her family had died from it, under medical treatment. She had a slight understanding of Christian Science, but for more than an hour she lay on the floor where she had fallen, in great agony, and alone so far as any human being was concerned. Despite her struggle she remembered and repeated over and over again our revered Leader's words on page 495 of Science and Health, where she counsels us to "cling steadfastly to God and His idea," whatever the temptation. The woman did this, and she was perfectly healed before morning, although there were the usual evidences on her arms as she went about her household duties which would have convinced the most skeptical of the nature of the disease. Those who heard her tell of the experience could never doubt that God heals the sick today as surely as in the time of Christ Jesus. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Ibid., p. 462) that in Christian Science "self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life."

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