Article July 22, 1911 Issue

"LIVING WATER"

MARTHA R. WHITE.

In the exuberance of Bible imagery one finds many references to the "river of water of life." In the book of Revelation, St. John writes, "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." Christian Science teaches us that Life is Mind, and the understanding of this fact throws a vivid light on St. John's figure. It is a matter of universal experience that our thoughts form a never ending stream. We think, think, think, day and night, and it is only in our thoughts that we are conscious of the world, of each other, of our own existence even. The supply of thought is endless. The compulsion to think is inexorable. If we cease to think of one subject, another rushes immediately into the gap. How simple it becomes to understand that the "river of water of life" is a stream of right and pure thought. God, the divine Mind, that goodness which underlies all creation, is the Principle of man, the divine source of his being; hence this river, "clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God," must be pure and undefiled. The real life of man can never be vitiated; God being its source, there can "in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth."

St. John completes his figure by saying that the river not only proceeds from the throne of God but of the Lamb, which is the symbol of innocence and obedience. In this we have a hint of man's relation to God. The Father gives, the son receives, and innocence must be ever present, because the channel must be clear from all impediments of wrong desire in order that the water may flow freely and without interruption. Obedience is necessary, because faithfulness in following the direction indicated by the current endows one with the full power of the current, while any swerving from its course subjects one to its blow. As Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 183), "Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength. Submission to error superinduces loss of power." When innocence and obedience have prepared the channel to receive the full measure of power and strength, then the divine Mind, the self-existent, pours its bounty with unstinted measure into the channel prepared. The Hudson river needs no aid to its resistless motion. Conditions being right, it simply flows to the sea. Even so the "river of water of life," "proceeding out of the throne of God," needs no aid from will-power on the part of the recipient. Life's activity is inevitable. It is also imperishable, since Principle is outside and above its idea.

Jesus' discourse to the woman of Samaria is intensely interesting in this regard. He began by asking for water to quench his thirst; then he went on to say that had she asked of him, he would have given her living water; that is, this water of life was at hand, if she or any one else but wanted it. He next said that any one who would drink of it,—who was willing to receive what he had to give,—would never thirst again, but would have an everlasting supply thereof. Then he became more explicit, and leaving the figure of the "living water," said that he who received his word and assimilated its meaning came into the true understanding of God, and was emancipated from the fear of death. Lastly, he wiped out the thought of death entirely by saying that all, even those whom the world called dead, were capable of receiving the truth. In other words, there are no dead.

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