Article April 26, 1913 Issue

DAILY PROBLEMS

W. C. FERGUSON.

The immeasurable value of Christian Science to humanity consists in its immediate and continuous availability in solving the many problems which confront mankind. When one first catches a glimpse of the beauty and truth of being as given in our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," he experiences a sweet sense of joy and freedom; but it is only when he begins to put in practise the teaching of this book that he experiences the calmness and confidence which is the result of understanding that all his daily problems are capable of solution by this means. Unless one is on guard, however, he may be robbed, by any one of a number of insidious arguments, of the harmony which is his through an absolute reliance on the spiritual. Among the most crafty and frequent of these is the one which would lead him to believe that pressure and hurry of business life make it impossible for him to use continuously his understanding of Science, and that if things get too discordant, he can take a half hour off and "do some work" or telephone a practitioner; another is, that if he has gone over the Lesson-Sermon that morning, his affairs ought to adjust themselves automatically. The argument which causes a man to put off until some more "convenient season" the consideration of a problem, is one which is apt to be productive of much discord.

Let us consider the method we pursue with regard to the mathematical problems of our daily life. When we awake in the morning we look at our watch, and in doing so, use a slight understanding of mathematics. No matter how sleepy we are, we use it. When we go into a store and make a purchase, we give or we get the correct change. We might be in a very great hurry and a number of people might be waiting for the clerk whose time we were using, but we would never think for a moment of not using our mathematics to see that we have the correct change. Likewise, in writing a check, in looking over a statement, in fact in a hundred matters, every day we use our knowledge of mathematics and never think for a moment of abandoning or neglecting it. Now, is not this the way we should use our Science? When a belief of anger comes into our consciousness, whether personified in ourselves or a brother, do we give him the "correct change" then and there, or do we put it off until we have more time to consider it? When a man comes to us with a dishonest thought, do we then and there know the truth about that? When the thought of hurry comes up, do we get the correct answer for that mortal belief then and there?

If one were to disregard the laws of mathematics for a single day, using any number that came into his head indiscriminately, he would not be able to correct all the mistakes he had made by going home and reading the very best treatise on arithmetic. In fact, it would require days and even weeks, probably, to correct his inaccurate bills, checks, etc., and it would have been better had he done nothing all that day. Then how can he any more expect harmony to result in the affairs of his every-day life, if he neglects to solve correctly the problems as they come before him? It is only by unceasing and persistent effort in meeting daily problems that harmony is obtained and development and progress are made. In Science and Health (p. 283) we read : "We must receive the divine Principle in the understanding, and live it in daily life; and unless we so do, we can no more demonstrate Science, than we can teach and illustrate geometry by calling a curve a straight line or a straight line a sphere."

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