Article July 26, 1913 Issue

PURIFICATION

LOUISE KNIGHT WHEATLEY.

One day a Christian Scientist who had recently passed through a somewhat trying experience was leaving the home of a practitioner just as another student of Christian Science was entering it. The newcomer and the practitioner stood for a moment on the veranda, enjoying the freshness of the spring morning, and the eyes of both half unconsciously followed the one who was leaving as he made his way down the shady street. "How that dear man has been persecuted!" murmured the newcomer. But the practitioner only smiled as she looked after the retreating figure. "Why not call it purified?" she asked. "To my sense, he is being pushed into the kingdom of heaven just as fast as he is able to go."

"Purified," not persecuted. As the one who was undergoing this purifying process proceeded on his way, his heart was full. He had gone to the practitioner that morning, trying to find surcease from a situation which was becoming well-nigh unbearable; and he had been given, not the sympathy which he had somehow expected, but a glimpse instead of the allness of God, lifting his thought into the realm of clearer vision, wherein he saw that "the accuser is not there" (Science and Health, p. 568) and man forever expresses the infinite perfection.

Oh, miracle of Love, he thought, which maketh even "the wrath of man" to praise Thee! How could I have been blind so long? Is the gold "persecuted" because the refining fire separates it from the dross? And what does it matter if the furnace does seem to be heated "seven times more than it was wont to be heated," as was that Babylonian furnace wherein were cast the three captives of long ago? Since "seven" symbolically stands for "completeness," it must mean that the fire burns only until the experience has been sufficient to teach us the lesson which we had need to learn.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
LOVE AND LAW
July 26, 1913
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit