Article September 22, 1923 ISSUE

Preaching and Practice

F. EDITH HILL

How often does a young student of Christian Science, with the impetuous enthusiasm of a beginner, rebel against the counsel of an older and wiser student, not to talk unnecessarily about this wonderful truth, but to try to live it instead! The inclination to talk about Christian Science seems irresistible to some. The illumination it has brought seems so wonderful and is so beautiful, that surely the sooner every one knows about it, the better, they think. Why not talk about it? It is so reasonable to those who have caught a glimpse of the truth is reveals, that it seems as though every one must wish the same light and accept its guidance. This, however, is to reckon without the material thought of the world, the "carnal mind," which, the Bible tells us, "is enmity against God;" and experience teaches us that this so-called mind has to be reckoned with as it presents its claim of enmity.

One young student who disregarded the advice to let her life, rather than her tongue, talk, soon found herself surrounded by such criticism and enmity that she longed to get away entirely from her environment; and because this was not practicable, she went through a severe struggle, which, had she been wiser, might have been avoided. She found that those to whom she had talked were not slow to point to certain plainly apparent faults in her character, and to imply that she had better practice before preaching to others.

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