Editorial July 4, 1914 Issue

Progressive Contentment

Annie M. Knott

Christian Science begins with the individual by making him desire and seek after better things than those which seem to prevail when he turns to the truth. If he is in bondage to a sense of sickness or of insufficiency, it tells him of the truth which sets free from all that is unlike God. It may therefore be asked if he at the same time becomes contented with his present condition, as contentment is rightly regarded as a Christian virtue. To this it may be answered that he no longer tries to be satisfied with sickness, or any other phase of limitation, on the mistaken supposition that these are divinely ordained, or at least divinely permitted for his good. St. Paul says, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content;" yet it is he who tells us of pressing toward the mark, which makes it very clear that his contentment had in it no element of stagnation or unprogressiveness. His statement to Timothy, however, throws the needed light upon this subject, namely, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." One who is godly is satisfied with his spiritual possessions, which have in their very nature the element of true progressiveness, for, as our revered Leader tells us, "progress is the law of God" (Science and Health, p. 233).

In pondering Paul's words, one is led to think of the popular belief that those who are born and reared in cold climates develop greater hardihood and endurance, both mental and physical, than do those in hot countries, because of the demand to rise superior to outward conditions. A German poet of the thirteenth century says, "Earth's cold winds but make our spirits brave," and this will be readily admitted; but we should see at a glance that nothing on the material plane has power to make one better or worse; that it is the overcoming of the sense-appeal which calls forth in us new energies, mental and spiritual, and lifts us higher with each experience. It should also be seen that the overcoming of the sense of indolence and lassitude, supposedly induced by extreme heat, furnishes an equal opportunity to prove that man is in every way superior to his environment. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 385), "The spiritual demand, quelling the material, supplies energy and endurance surpassing all other aids;" while the revelator declares, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things," and this, too, in the face of what would seem the most trying conditions.

It is possible that some one may ask what resistance and effort have to do with contentment. To this it may be answered, that without the right sort of contentment, resistance to wrong conditions would be of little avail. Spiritual being is always harmonious; it provides for the happiness and harmony of all of God's ideas. Our resistance should therefore be addressed to the belief in that which produces discord, though it may claim the authority of natural law, as in the case of extreme heat or cold. In stilling the storm, Christ Jesus proved that discords have no place in the kingdom of God; but strangely enough his professed followers for many centuries have lost sight of this vital truth, and have tried in vain to be content while discord has seemingly prevailed as sin, disease, destruction, and death. But a better day has dawned in Christian Science, and with it new types of character are being unfolded. No longer is feverish energy regarded as necessary to one's progress, but instead calm and steady devotion to "the infinite tasks of truth" (Science and Health, p. 323), with courage, strength, and good cheer in addressing one's self to daily duty. The lowliest station will furnish opportunity for the exercise of all these qualities, and steadfast endeavor will inevitably lift all who are worthy to their rightful place in the realm of Mind, as surely as the tree leaves seed and soil behind it in fulfilling its destiny.

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