Article April 6, 1912 Issue

"DRINK THE SWEET."

VIOLET KER SEYMER.

The writer remembers returning from the woods one spring morning carrying with her a slender bough of cherry-blossoms. The bees followed in twos and threes, freely sipping the honey and clinging tightly to the blossoms as they visited them one by one. "Just as impersonal," thought the bearer, "is a Christian Scientist's service in the world; he has but to hold Love's sweetness well in sight, and all the world will be attracted and fed by it." In sunshine as in storm, the flowers are ready to yield their honey to every thirsty traveler. Wafting their fragrance hither and thither, they seem to echo the words of the prophet Nehemiah, and invite every passing insect to "drink the sweet" they have to offer. This spirit of ministry in nature but symbolizes the beneficent activities of divine Love, which is ever calling to the human family: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters."

Erroneous beliefs would, if they were allowed, cheat us of the joy both of sipping the honey ourselves and of carrying it to others. Regarding the first of these, let us remember that God never keeps us waiting; it is we who would keep God waiting. We should be both energetic and systematic in obeying the injunction to "come" and to "drink" unsparingly. In other words, our every need will be met when we realize, through prayer and study, the varied bounty of divine Mind which it is man's privilege to express. This bounty should be as freely sought and received into consciousness as it is being freely given. Jesus said, "Seek, and ye shall find." He never implied that we should find without seeking, nor that any need grow weary in seeking. The understanding of Christian Science is able to bring about immediate results, and we should expect them. In nature, the flowers might proffer their honey never so lavishly, yet the bee who sped past the open clayx would have no right to complain if it returned hungry to the hive, or if it sipped too hastily to gain the treasured nectar. Moreover, experience shows that each must gather his own store of honey and not expect others to collect it for him. Sometimes we may have glanced so cursorily at our literature that what we have read has left no definite impression likely to lead to practical results. A few weeks of careful study and assimilation of what we read will do more toward our emancipation from sickness and sin than years of reading without making personal application of what we read. Our agreement with the teachings of Christian Science must not be merely formal and intellectual, but inward and spiritual. We should take home to ourselves both what is said about error and also about Truth, honestly casting out the errors we may hitherto have overlooked, and grasping and applying each new aspect of Truth.

Again, there are times when the sincerest student of Christian Science drinks too sparingly of this fountain and allows indifference or some mood to cheat him of the joy and profitableness of study. Not until his accustomed harmony is invaded by some discord does he remember to turnmore systematically to divine Mind for his deliverance, and seek the ounce of prevention which will always save him the pound of cure. Again, to the consecrated worker there comes the temptation to neglect to "drink the sweet" he so much needs, and to allow his work for others to encroach upon such time as he should by rights reserve for his own study and refreshment. Unless this error, masquerading as unselfishness, be seen and overcome, the worker will presently find that he has been defeating his own ends, in that "his own spiritual barrenness debars him from giving drink to the thirsty" (Science and Health, p. 366). We should draw from the wells of salvation unceasingly, for this lightens the labor and doubles the harvest.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

THE HOME AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL