Article November 15, 1924 Issue

Receptivity

JOHN ASHCROFT

The morning sunlight was streaming into the room. A woman had come to learn whether Christian Science promised any relief from the bondage of a knee which had become so stiffened by disease that it seemed impossible to bend it. The practitioner talked to her a while of the healing power of Truth and Love, illustrating what was said by relating experiences of healing in his own life and that of his family. The visitor listened very patiently; but when the narrator paused, she smiled sadly and said, "Ah, but I have been like this for fifteen years." Momentarily silent, the practitioner's thought turned to the only source of wisdom; and then, noting the brilliance of the sunlight penetrating the room, he said: "Well, suppose you have. And suppose you have a room in your house that has been darkened for fifteen years, blinds closed, windows locked, shades drawn; and on one of these bright spring mornings you go into that room, draw up the shades, open the windows, throw back the blinds. How long will it take the sunlight to get into that room; how long will it take the darkness to get out?" Slowly her face broadened into a smile of comprehension; and it was apparently without question that she accepted the practitioner's assurance that such was the effect of Truth in human consciousness. Not long afterwards came the word that she had received her freedom; that she could not only walk, but run, if she so desired. What a priceless quality is receptivity!

Included in the message transmitted by John to the church at Laodicea was the declaration of the Christ, Truth, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock;" and the promise accompanying that declaration was that if any man should open the door, the heavenly visitant would enter. Truth still stands at the door and knocks; but it does not lift the latch. That is humanity's part in the working out of its salvation.

Throughout her writings, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has revealed and explained the nature of this truth which knocks at the door of human consciousness. Christian Science reveals the truth about all good and also about the claims of evil. It is the truth about God, the truth about man, the truth about Truth, the truth about Spirit, the truth about that which is untrue, the truth about matter, the truth about sin, sickness, and death, and the truth about sinlessness, health, and Life. It reveals the great truth that all good is ever present, ever available; that it always has been and always will be all.

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