Article April 14, 1917 Issue

Christian Science Applied

IDA MITCHELL ROFF

A student of Christian Science who for some years had been demonstrating its teachings, was pouring into the ears of a friend the details of a difficulty which to her seemed almost overwhelming. The friend listened for a while, and then asked, "Why do you not try Christian Science on it?"

Overhearing this rebuke, so timely, so pointed, and yet so lovingly given, I wondered if I should ever again permit myself to forget or to neglect the practical application of the teaching which I too was professing to follow. It is indeed surprising to find how easily we are led by the seeming reality of human circumstances to sit helplessly inactive or to abandon the situation to material remedies. A recent occurrence gave me an opportunity to see my own attitude on this point, and illustrated the effect of mental activity. I was riding with my brother and his family in their automobile when a tire gave out on a wheel already bent and uncertain. My brother had scarcely begun to work on repairing the damages when a friendly voice called from a passing machine, "Do you need any help?" "No," was the reply; "I can fix it."

For at least an hour we women sat at the side of the road and watched the man, already fatigued from a strenuous journey, working alone. The difficulty seemed to be too much for him, however, and he came to a stopping place. My sister-in-law remarked that she wished she could help, and I replied that women seemed very helpless on such occasions. Scarcely were the words spoken when the thought came, "Am I merely a woman, or am I a Christian Scientist? The memory of the conversation I had heard recurred to me, and with a guilty blush at my own mental drowsiness I bowed my head, literally and figuratively, and began my work.

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