Article September 7, 1918 Issue

Love for the Sunday School

MYRTA SMITH BUFFUM

Those who have had the privilege of serving in the Christian Science Sunday school are constantly gratified at the receptivity of the child thought and its natural acceptance of the truth as taught in Christian Science. As Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 236), "Children are more tractable than adults, and learn more readily to love the simple verities that will make them happy and good." When the children understand that Christian Science is something they can prove and which they can apply even to the small things which make up their daily lives, and that it keeps them well and happy, they love this truth and naturally reach out for all that helps them in gaining a greater understanding of it.

The Sunday school furnishes an opportunity for learning early these lessons, and the children love it as a vital part of their lives. Instances have occurred where pupils have begged permission to attend Sunday school rather than to take an all day pleasure trip with their parents on Sunday. To such pupils the Sunday school is something which they do not want to miss. There have also been cases where parents have at first thought it might be best for a child to remain at home on a Sunday because of some discordant physical condition, but the child's desire for the good afforded through the Sunday school has changed this attitude of the parents, with the result that the child has attended the Sunday school and has been healed. Thus there is furnished to the parents as well as to the child an illustration of the practical results gained through attending the Christian Science services.

When boys and girls see the reason and justice of a request or a rule, they are generally obedient. Sometimes they may forget that the opening exercises of the Sunday school are an important part of the service; but when it is made clear to them that the hymns, silent prayer, the Lord's Prayer, the golden text, and the responsive reading are all for a purpose and have their healing influence, they will naturally be attentive to this part of the service. As passages in the Bible and Science and Health in regard to song, prayer, and the Scriptures are called to their attention, the pupils are quick to see the spiritual application. When they understand that the golden text is a precious and valuable statement of truth, it is not an unpleasant duty to memorize it. It is a spiritual help. When the scholars know that they are welcome to the privileges of the Christian Science reading room, some of them take advantage of this opportunity and use the readng room in connection with the study of their Sunday school lessons.

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