Article April 19, 1924 Issue

The Door

FAITH HOLMES HYERS

We cannot think of a house without a door. The most primitive type of dwelling, the igloo, or the tepee, has as its main feature the door, or entrance. Any dwelling place must have a means of access, a door which can be opened to the rightful entrant or shut upon the intruder. The architect looks well to the character of the doorways he designs, knowing that the door must be in keeping with the plan and purpose of the structure. The householder considers the door of his dwelling. He sees to it that it is wide enough to bespeak hospitality, sturdy enough to bar intruders, beautiful enough to harmonize with the spirit of law and order that governs the home.

As with the house of wood or stone, the material abode, so is it with the mental and spiritual dwelling place, the consciousness. To consciousness there is a way of access, a door which can be opened or closed. We are the doorkeepers of our mental household; and as such we cannot be too alert in challenging the nature and purpose of the visitors who present themselves for admission. In these days of multifold worldly activities and rapidly changing thought, many strange applicants find their way to our doors. Clothed in the garments of intellectual or sensuous beauty, they may appear to be acceptable guests to entertain; but we need to be watchful doorkeepers lest we admit the harbingers of discord and dismay into our mental household.

"And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door," we read in Genesis. Experience has proved many times that unless we do well in keeping our lamps of faith trimmed and filled, our household of consciousness swept and prepared for the reception of Truth, sin, in the guise of fear or unkind thought or belief in the reality of matter, will lie at our door waiting to be admitted. "Stand porter at the door of thought," Mrs. Eddy says in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 392). If we obey this wise and loving admonition, we shall ceaselessly perform the office of porter, by examining every thought which knocks for entrance.

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April 19, 1924
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