Article August 23, 1913 Issue

HUMAN SYMPATHY

HORTENSE L. WHEELER.

Until we come to know the difference between human sympathy and divine compassion, the expression of pity seems to be our highest conception of Christly affection; but it was not pity, it was love and understanding which chided Peter for his lack of faith and bade him walk on the waves, thereby saving him from the result of his fears. It is the same kind of love and understanding which the Christian Scientist of today extends to his neighbor in time of trouble, and it is this alone, and not human sympathy, which saves him. This is the helping hand which all humanity would gladly grasp in preference to that of mere sympathy, were mankind willing to see the remedy for human suffering. Having come to know the relation of man to his Maker, the Christian Scientist does not judge by false appearances, and having seen the futility of human sympathy to accomplish any lasting good, he has erased from his consciousness all belief in its necessity or helpfulness, and therefore does not violate his trust in and his love for God by offering mere human sympathy to his brother; rather does he encourage him to walk the wave, knowing "the nothingness of evil and the allness of God" (Science and Health, p. 563), and understanding man's dominion over all things.

Human sympathy unsupported by divine Truth never eased a single pain, eradicated one evil thought, or gave more than a passing solace to sorrow; while the understanding of the power of God to heal all disease and destroy all suffering, has freed thousands from bondage, and also reformed sinners. With this comprehension comes also the knowledge that the sense of affliction and pain is self-imposed and self-prolonged, and the follower of Christ Jesus who has gained an understanding of Christian Science seeks less and less the expression of that sympathy which comes from a belief in disease and acknowledgment of its reality.

Through a lack of comprehension and unwillingness to understand Truth, there are those who criticize the Christian Scientist's apparent lack of sympathy, deeming the outward evidence of condolence more satisfying than the indwelling spirit of Love to ease pain and sorrow; but to the Christian Scientist, pity, which is mainly material, has been replaced by the redemptive Love that points out the way through which a brother gains freedom from disease and sorrow. Error, ignorant of the truth, cringes and fawns to gain sympathy and recognition from mortals, but the most that can be said for human sympathy is, that it appeals to self-pity, and temporarily assuages grief, all the while giving assent to the claims of error; while the application and demonstration of Truth and Love proves the falsity of these claims, and thus brings in abiding harmony.

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