Editorial December 6, 1919 Issue

"A shining light"

Ella W. Hoag

MEN have always loved to descant upon light. Used in metaphor it has invariably been a favorite, and all kinds of helpful lessons have been propounded with it as a topic. None have ever been more valuable than the one which Jesus gave to his disciples when he commanded them, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Christians from then until now have striven to find out just what this command has meant and how they were to proceed to obey it. Many a preacher has presented it in many an aspect, but his hearers have often been left still wondering just what it implied.

The question has frequently arisen, How can one reconcile this teaching of Jesus with that other one of his where he tells us, "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth"? How is one to have his light shine to such an extent that God shall be glorified and yet at the same time be so unconscious of it that even one hand shall not know what the other hand has done? In other words, How are one's good deeds to be a power for good if they are never to be proclaimed abroad?

Christian Science has come revealing the truth which answers this as satisfactorily as it does all other questions. It teaches that true light is reflected from God, and one can only let his light shine as he expresses the qualities of God, divine Mind, in right thinking and living. This leaves no place or necessity for self-contemplation. As one divests himself of self-righteousness, vainglory, pride, and kindred beliefs there will be no self-consciousness left to dim the shining of the light. The Christian Scientist's responsibility is to be sure that no false sense of self remains in his thinking, which can act as an obscuration of the true light. He is only responsible for the shining, not for the way it is to glorify God. God will attend to that. The Christian Scientist lets the light shine when he empties his thought of all selfishness, through lifting it above self-thinking and self-seeking, and keeps it true to God, wherever he may be placed or however he may be circumstanced.

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