Article September 10, 1910 Issue

WHOSE MASTER IS CHRIST

ANNA C. WYETH.

"Since I have learned that 'man is not material' (Science and Health, p. 468), I do not care anything about the body," remarked a student of Christian Science, when asked why he did not use his understanding to destroy a physical manifestation of discord. The writer has always thought of the body as a symbol expressing a mental condition, and bearing the same relation to the mental condition as the written symbol bears to the mathematical concept; but here seemed to be an exception to the rule, for one who was possessed of some understanding professed to be indifferent to an expression of discord.

Thought then turned to a little child for the solution of the problem. The little one, too young to go to school, delights to "play school," covering his slate with figures or symbols made in imitation of another child's work, though they mean absolutely nothing to him. In this chaos of mathematical imitation there stand out instances where he unknowingly expresses a mathematical truth. By and by he start to school, where he learns that two and two make four. He also learns to express his new-found understanding in symbols, and great is his joy at finding that the symbols are familiar, though now they possess meaning for him; they express understanding.

Mortals are as children covering their slates, their human experiences, with symbols. These symbols are sometimes healthy bodies and harmonious conditions; but as often they express disease and discord of every name, and the mortal knows not how to differentiate between the one and the other. But a day has come to many of us when we started in at a school whose master is Christ, Truth, and whose text-books are the Bible and Science and Health. Here we began to learned, of God and of man's relation to Him. Then we learned, as did the child, that the symbols were the same as those used before we had an understanding of Truth; but now, knowing what the symbols mean, we see that we need to watch that they are correct. The little one who should say, on having the statement, two plus two equals six, pointed out, "Oh, I know it makes four; and I do not care about the symbols being right, so long as I know it," would probably learn wisdom from bitter experience; and even so will we of larger growth.

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