Article June 10, 1916 Issue

True Courtesy

WILLIAM R. RATHVON

There are reasons why the courtesy of Christian Scientists should be spontaneous, unstudied, characteristic, since true courtesy is but the outward expression of that mental attitude which Christian Science inculcates, wherein brotherly love and thoughtful consideration for others are accentuated. "Be courteous" is the admonition Peter gave to the converted pagans and Christianized Jews in Asia Minor to whom his epistles were addressed. His words did not refer merely to the formal observance of the externals of manner and behavior. If he could but reach their hearts, their manners would need no looking after at his hands.

The word which has been translated "courteous" has a much higher meaning than is conveyed by our word courtesy as commonly used today. It is a composite of two Greek roots, philos, love, and phronos, mind, so that to be courteous is to have a loving mind. It is easily conceivable that Mrs. Eddy may have so interpreted it when she refers to "God's courtesy" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 341). In a world of sham, manners may rank above sincerity, but a highly polished surface may hide a decayed interior. True courtesy is never a veneer. Studied politeness, courtly mannerisms, and the like, are admirable enough when accompanied by sincerity, but they are not of themselves characteristic of the genuine courtesy enjoined in Scripture.

In Christian Science no thought, word, or action stands by itself unrelated to any other, — each experience may recall another similar in quality, each word affect a listener, each action offer an example that may attract or repel. Not one of these is too little to be regarded as of no consequence, for if not rightly shaped or rightly placed it may mar or impede the development of greater things, just as the smallest screw or pinion in a watch, if misplaced, may make the timepiece still as a stone. Nothing is insignificant when considered in its relation to other things, and in Science relationship is universal; hence the importance of giving heed to the little things that enter so largely into Christian Science activity. "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle," is an oft-quoted saying of one whose colossal achievements in sculpture, painting, and architecture have never been excelled. But the Christian Scientist need not turn to Michael Angelo for wise words about little things as well as great; he gets them from a gentle woman whose words and works will be treasured in the hearts of men in all the years.

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