Article March 29, 1924 Issue

Adoration

ANGELINE F. MAHAN

Two little ones were at play in a corner of the room in which their mother sat, busy with her sewing. Presently, with no apparent reason, one looked up and said, "I love you, mother;" and her sister echoed her words, "Mother, I love you." The mother tenderly answered, "I love you, too, little daughters." There had been no immediate service done for the children, nor had any gift been given to them; their words were the spontaneous outpouring of their appreciation of their mother's love. They did not argue: Mother is kind; she is compassionate, just, patient, and has done much for me; therefore I love her. They simply knew that mother was to them lovely, lovable, and satisfying; therefore they told her so.

A student of Christian Science who was a happy guest in this home, and an interested listener to the conversation, was reminded of the second phrase of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be thy name," and its interpretation in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 16), "Adorable one." She had been giving these words careful study, and had reached the place where she explained them to herself as, "Reverenced be Thy character" and, "Thou art worthy of the utmost love;" but now, their meaning was simplified, and she saw that the phrases were the equivalent of the children's words,—"We love you, Father-Mother God." She saw that her thanksgiving to God had previously been largely upon the basis of the one hundred and seventh psalm; that of thanksgiving because of gifts received and services rendered; not an adoration of God's character as Love.

This student had been delivered from many evils of body and mind. Some of these experiences were now almost forgotten; they had disappeared into their native place, dreamland, and the student was glad it was so. Yet she had found herself reasoning: If I forget those sad experiences, those waking dreams of pain and sorrow, shall I not also forget the depths from which the Lord has delivered me, and cease to render Him thanks? Now she understood that the highest rejoicing is not the mere giving of thanks because of deliverance from ills, but the constant, spontaneous realization of the love of God, and that such a consciousness inevitably hears the Father-Mother answering at all times: My child, I love you.

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