Article August 13, 1910 Issue

SIN NO MORE

EDITH L. IVES.

In the 5th chapter of St. John's Gospel is a wonderful story of the healing of an impotent man who "had an infirmity thirty and eight years." The Master again met him in the temple, after his healing, and said these most significant words to him, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." Here is both warning and encouragement. Jesus had made the man "whole," so that he who had suffered so many years "took up his bed and walked." He was a free man, but the rest of the work was to be done by him, not by the Master. He had to "work out [his] own salvation" in order to remain free from disease. The sin or error which had manifested itself in physical discord had to be rooted out and utterly destroyed "lest a worse thing" come unto him.

Do we not often wonder, and perhaps feel discouraged, because some old form of disease seems to return with greater force than ever? What are we doing? Are we putting on "the whole armor of God," and keeping it bright by watching our every thought? To leave one small place where pride, hate, criticism, malice, or any one of the many phases of evil can creep in, is fatal. The tiniest hole in a dam, unchecked, means its ultimate destruction. The arrow found the only vulnerable place in Achilles' body—his heel.

Our Leader strongly emphasizes the need of watchfulness when she bids us "stand porter at the door of thought" (Science and Health, p. 392). It is in the little things that one needs to watch. "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much." In "No and Yes" (p. 8) Mrs. Eddy writes: "Avoid voicing error; but utter the truth of God and the beauty of holiness, the joy of Love and 'the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.'" We read in Proverbs that as a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." Let us, then, think truth, love, joy, peace, perfection, and these attributes will be manifested in our lives and words. We should not allow ourselves to enter into any discussion or description of disease or discord of any kind of which we or others have been healed, but "let the dead bury their dead," forget "those things which are behind" and "press toward the mark for the prize"—perfection. We must be constantly alert to detect even the appearance of evil, to keep our minds filled with the consciousness of the one presence, the healing, purifying presence of infinite Mind.

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