Article June 23, 1923 Issue

The Tares and the Wheat

AURILLA ALLYN WRIGHT

In working out a demonstration of healing there is no story in the Bible that can be more helpfully used than the story of the tares and the wheat. In undertaking any healing work, it is always necessary to keep thought fixed on God, good; to keep foremost the truth about God and the real man,—the only man, who is and always has been spiritual and perfect. To watch the good thoughts (the wheat) and tenderly cherish them, that they may grow; to be watchful, also, but never fearful, when the tares (erroneous thoughts) appear among the wheat; and to know, while seeing them apparently grow side by side, that Truth always destroys error; to keep knowing, despite the evidence of the false material senses, that the tares will be destroyed at the time of harvest, and that only the wheat, the divine realities, will be saved. That is the work of the Christian metaphysician, the husbandman in the spiritual fields.

Mrs. Eddy alludes to the parable of the tares and the wheat many times in her writings. On page 117 of "Miscellaneous Writings" she says, "The student of Christian Science must first separate the tares from the wheat; discern between the thought, motive, and act superinduced by the wrong motive or the true—the God-given intent and volition—arrest the former, and obey the latter." On page 214 of the same book she says: "The attitude of mortal mind in being healed morally, is the same as its attitude physically. The Christian Scientist cannot heal the sick, and take error along with Truth, either in the recognition or approbation of it. This would prevent the possibility of destroying the tares: they must be separated from the wheat before they can be burned, and Jesus foretold the harvest hour and the final destruction of error through this very process,—the sifting and the fire."

The work of separating, of constantly sifting out good from evil beliefs, demands that discerning thought should be ever active on the part of the working Christian Scientist. Is this that we are looking at some perfectly good wheat springing up in a corner of our garden, or is it a weed, a tare, which must be watched and sorted out for burning? Daily and hourly must we watch; for we remember that in the story told in Matthew, it was "while men slept" the enemy "came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." "While men slept"!

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

The Tares and the Wheat

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access