Article December 16, 1916 Issue

"Could ye not watch with me one hour?"

IDA R. SIMONEAU

On the wall space of a certain Christian Science Sunday school room wherein temporaily are held also the church services, there is transcribed with excellently planned and loving foresight for its application, the question that Jesus in Gethsemane asked of Peter and those with him who were found sleeping: "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" In view of the fact that Christian Science Sunday services, the Wednesday evening meeting, and the Sunday school each occupy about one hour, could a more direct appeal be made than this reminder to members, pupils, teachers, and the entire audience, for their undivided attention during any of our dearly loved services, meetings, or lectures?

Our Church Manual reads: "A Christian Scientist is not fatigued by prayer, by reading the Scriptures or the Christian Science text-book. ... Truth and Love rest the weary and heavy laden" (Art. XVII, Sect. 1). This applies as assuredly to participants as to members, who equally share in the observance and the resultant blessing. How subtle error is in making us "heavy with sleep," as were Jesus' disciples, for thereby cometh failure to heed the command to "watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation," as the Master admonished. There is also the temptation to absent ourselves from these privileged services, of leaving before the closing hymn, or the equally erroneous and no less marked one of having attention attracted in every direction save that wherein we are watchers with the spiritual idea, the ever present Christ, that inspires and heals mankind.

The spiritual unfoldings which came from the application of that question have remained with at least one reader at services and in places far distant from the place mentioned. The uplifting result gave additional proof of the truth of Mrs. Eddy's statement that "Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion" (Science and Health, p. 68), in all good ways. At times the loving rebuke of the Master has been very insistent while the writer was forced to listen to distracting conversations, or noted inattention and even irreverence on the part of the careless in our midst. Then it is that the clouds of self-righteousness may well be scattered by turning to our Master's closing demand in that memorable record, "Rise, let us be going." Let us then rise to our true consciousness in God, good,—rise to watchfulness of self, to resist all that is unlike Him.

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