Article November 16, 1918 Issue

The Lamp of Truth

ELMA WARWICK WILMARTH

Men and women everywhere are thrilled and inspired to higher and nobler endeavor by the deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice of others who have left and are leaving "footprints on the sands of time." As one reads, in the twenty-sixth chapter of Acts, the record of Paul's defense before Agrippa, every fiber of his being is thrilled with the stand for Principle which is taken by this apostle. Paul begins by expressing gratitude that he is permitted to speak for himself touching the things whereof he was accused of the Jews; then, neither sparing himself nor blaming others, he pleads guilty to having persecuted the followers of Jesus. He then relates his experience on the journey to Damascus when his eyes were opened to the wrong which he had done. He also tells of the manner in which he received the admonition to become a minister and a witness to Christ, and boldly declared, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." So thoroughly was he convinced of the truth which had been revealed to him that he longed for others to see the light also, declaring to Agrippa, "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such I am, except these bonds."

In the life of Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, we have the example of a character which stands for all that the words purity, tenderness, patience, meekness, perseverance, and devotion to the right can convey. Though she was misunderstood and misrepresented by church and press for years, yet she stood firm, and unfalteringly relied on God, divine Mind, to sustain her, demonstrating His allness to a doubting world,—in a word, demonstrating Christian Science by healing the sick and sinning, and pointing the way to victory over death itself. She, too, was obedient to the heavenly vision, and, like Paul, longed to bring this knowledge of the healing and saving Christ to men everywhere. Her followers are instructed to pray each day, "May Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" (Manual, Art. VIII, Sect. 4.) That this enrichment of the affections can uphold through trials is made plain in an explanation on page 385 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the textbook of Christian Science, which reads: "It is proverbial that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists engaged in humane labors have been able to undergo without sinking fatigues and exposures which ordinary people could not endure. The explanation lies in the support which they derived from the divine law, rising above the human."

In this connection we shall do well to consider the noble life and work of Florence Nightingale, immortalized in Longfellow's poem entitled "Santa Filomena," who, almost unaided, carried on the work of nursing the wounded and dying during the Crimean war. At night, carrying a little lamp, Miss Nightingale went from cot to cot, not with material aid only, but with words of tenderness and sympathy, and men in their gratitude even kissed her shadow as it passed. Longfellow pays enduring tribute to this self-sacrificing woman, in the lines which are quoted each week on the cover of the Christian Science Sentinel:—

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