Article September 15, 1923 Issue

Oil in Their Lamps

ROSALIE HOOVER

Jesus' disciples came to him one day asking, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" He answered, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. . . . Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear." This message was not to his immediate disciples only, but to all who might come after, hungering, thirsting, and seeking for the righteousness he taught. He also taught of the Comforter that was to come, which was to lead into all truth that they might see and hear with spiritual understanding.

There was one who had hungered and thirsted, and sought so diligently with eyes that saw and ears that heard, that she was able to perceive the spiritual vision so clearly and distinctly that she could reveal to the world the Comforter which was to come, and which she named Christian Science. This new gospel of Truth, the Scriptures tell us, is not to be heard in the streets, but shall come in a "still small voice." It has been lovingly pointed out to us, by this one who revealed the Comforter, that it is the law of God in human consciousness, silently revolutionizing thought,—the light shining in the darkness, whose lamp must be filled and kept burning with the right desire after heavenly things.

To gain these Horeb heights,—the consciousness of true spirituality which conquers materiality,—the student of Christian Science must be sincere in his seeking and adaptability; else, he will fall by the wayside, having drifted into slothfulness; or he may find himself as the five foolish virgins, without oil in his lamp when the bridegroom appears. Many a dear one in Science who has found relief, oftentimes perhaps instantaneously, begins to find after a while that his problems seem perplexingly prolonged and unyielding. He had come to the marriage feast; but while the bridegroom tarried had fallen asleep, allowing animal magnetism to lure him into worldliness and negligence, perhaps causing him even to accept its suggestion that there was no need of keeping the lamp filled, trimmed, and burning,—that he could borrow in time of need. It may have been jealousy of a more successful brother, who has labored incessantly in watching, working, and praying, often far into the midnight hours; or it may have been harsh criticism or misjudgment which has caused the lamp to go out.

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