Article July 5, 1924 Issue

Tenderness

ERNEST C. MOSES

Tenderness is something which one feels but which cannot be precisely described in words. It is deep and ineffable, for it is an attribute of God. Tenderness is so closely allied to divine Love that human speech cannot utter its full meaning; it can only feebly express something of its gentle influence. We may feel tenderness expressed in the symbols of nature, in the delicate odors of flower and shrub, and in the simple movements of waters in ocean, lake, or river, all testifying to the power of God. How often a discerning sense discovers tenderness and humility in nature's unobtrusive symbols. "The flower of sweetest smell is shy and lowly." However much our expressions of tenderness may lack in fullness, our conceptions of its beauty and power will constantly expand if we recognize God as the true source of this gentle attribute, and strive to leaven our thoughts and speech with its gracious truth.

Christian Science teaches that God is Spirit, the sole and only source of all that is perfect, real, and pure. It also teaches that God, being the sole and only Mind, the intelligence of His own spiritual universe, is omnipotent. The real might, then, is in Spirit; and Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 514), "Tenderness accompanies all the might imparted by Spirit." Understanding this, even in small degree, we may know why it is that we see expressed around us so much of orderly simplicity, beauty, gentleness, and purity. With this recognition we may easily perceive why the attribute of tenderness expressed by men and women in true sympathy and friendship gives strength to action, and permanent abiding in the chambers of memory. Expressions of good-will, brotherly and affectionate interest inspired by the living and ever present God, are never lost. As Mrs. Eddy writes in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 127): "Wise sayings and garrulous talk may fall to the ground, rather than on the ear or heart of the hearer; but a tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the right moment, is never wasted."

Christian Science is constantly demonstrating the truth of this most practical sentiment. Unnumbered men and women who formerly relied on force of intellect and voice to establish their personal desires or conclusions now draw on the treasures of Truth; and like the lowly flower which exists only to bless, their words uttered to help another are spoken with tenderness. Such an attribute unselfishly expressed manifests in some degree the might of Spirit, and extends, for the common good, the influence of every student of the Science of Christianity.

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