Article April 22, 1911 Issue

SOWING IN TEARS

A. B. FICHTER.

The psalmist has written: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy;" and who would not thus reap? All desire to do that surely; but the world has taken these words as meaning that tears are very essential to the gaining of joy. Consequently, until Christian Science was given to a weary world, mankind believed that tears were the natural condition of promise, without which a reaping of joy could never be realized. Men called life "a vale of tears," hoping to be compensated in a state of bliss in a remote and uncertain future. To many it was a comfort to believe that the more of tears they had occasion to shed here below, the greater would be their assurance of heavenly joys above. Sighing over and bemoaning one's present condition would not have become such a prevalent attitude, if in some inscrutable way it had not been considered meritorious.

But do these words really mean this? Let us see how much may be gained by emphasizing the word "sow." What do people usually sow when they are "in tears" or afflicted? Is it not complaints, doubts, self-pity, bitterness, apprehension, ingratitude, fear, accusations, self-condemnation, and self-justification? Jesus said, "The seed is the word of God." Do people in general sow the word of God, the word of Truth, of hope, of trust, of faith, of power, of gratitude, of love, in the time of trial? When in human affliction Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus, "he lifted up his eyes;" he gained first the spiritual perception, lifted his thought to the eternal harmony, and then there welled up in his consciousness gratitude for his understanding of the ever-presence of omnipotent Life, and he said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always." What a contrast to our usual way of meeting affliction!

Christian Science teaches that Jesus was the way; he showed us the way, and we are to do as he did if we would gain the same results. Trials cannot keep men from Love, from right thinking; indeed, they often bring them face to face with Truth. If in the hour of affliction we allow no tares of discontent, ingratitude, self-seeking, or revenge to find root in our thought, but instead recall and declare the word of God, there can be no question as to the harvest of good and of ultimate joy we shall reap thereby. We have sown the seed of the Word, and we are assured that God will give the increase.

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