Article December 11, 1920 Issue

"What is that to thee?"

ROGER BURGES

This quotation from the gospel of John, "What is that to thee? follow thou me," is sufficiently well known to excuse any attempt herein to comment upon it as originally given by Jesus. It is the purpose of this article, on the contrary, to put forward some views on its application to the present,—the all-important now. It is assumed that there is no one in the world to-day who has not found it necessary on some occasion to take sides on some question more or less important. It is a fact, perhaps more fortunate than the majority are willing to understand, that the present day affords any number of opportunities to take sides in controversies social, political, and religious. What is unfortunate is that so many of us, in deciding which side to take, are apt to run down the other side to the full extent of our ability,—by deed, when that is possible, and by word and thought.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" our Leader has included many prophecies of the effect of the thought of Christian Scientists on the problems of world regeneration, and it would appear desirable, therefore, to make a thorough examination of our thoughts, see what they are, where they are leading us, and what effect they are likely to have upon the world. Mrs. Eddy often refers to our path toward perfection as a "course," and on page 268 of her "Miscellaneous Writings" she says, "The Christian Scientist keeps straight to the course." The complete Christian Scientist, yes: the student of Christian Science? Well, probably not, as the following simile may make clear.

A ship's course is sometimes spoken of as her track from one place to another. Leaving out of consideration the many intricacies of navigation whose application to the problem need not be developed here, there is, of course, only one best, exact, and true track between these two points, and it is the object of every ship which has to steer that course to keep as close as possible to that track. It is a fact, however, that no means of doing so exactly has yet been found. No matter who is the helmsman or how perfect the steering appliances or how calm the sea, the ship's course works out like a waved line which constantly crosses and recrosses the true track. A good helmsman will keep closer to the true track than will an indifferent one, but the perfect helmsman has yet to be found.

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