Gentleness

MYRA A. PAINE

For a Christian Scientist, the "top of the ladder" is wholehearted consecration to God. If he is longing, above all else, to see manifested the glory of God, good, his desire will help him to deal more gently with all around him who are honestly wanting good. Through repeated physical healings and improved mental conditions the Christian Scientist soon perceives the necessity for an unselfish use of his spiritual understanding, and instead of aiming for ease in matter, he begins to long to "forget self in laboring for mankind," as Mrs. Eddy has admonished on page 155 of "Miscellaneous Writings."

When a Christian Scientist is daily walking with God, realizing his own need for more spirituality, he is not so liable to be tempted into allowing his mortal selfhood to be harshly evident in his contact with his fellows. Yet all Scientists seem to need to be more alert so as not to bruise, thoughtlessly or carelessly, any mentality that is earnestly seeking Truth. They need to remember that Jesus rebuked his disciples for their harshness in desiring to push away the hungry multitude, the little children, and the blind beggar, and that he was always ready to meet compassionately any claim upon his time.

So, in every walk of life we must learn to be more patient. The schoolmaster who is being governed by divine Mind will strive not to bruise a timid student with sarcasm. The teacher must live what he has learned, reflecting God so confidently that not only will the slow student be quickened, but the insubordinate one will acknowledge good, and love to be obedient to Godlike authority. The business-man who knows that any right activity is simply the reflection of the ever-presence of divine Mind loses the desire to fight his way against his rival, to demand recognition for the good he does, or to crush any one who opposes him. He has attained to real assurance in the fact that no mortal can disrupt or withhold the progress that is the law of God. Furthermore, the friend who sees his neighbor's real selfhood as God's reflection is careful not to let himself be condescendingly amused at another's struggles, nor to pick out foibles in another to ridicule him for the amusement of the crowd, since the Christian Scientist realizes how those very same weaknesses, or even weightier ones, may need uprooting from his own mortal consciousness.

Gentleness, however, does not mean a sentimental smoothing over of mistakes, with the excuse, "He's done the best he could;" but it does mean recognizing instantly the earnest striving going on in another's thought and the aiding of that sincerity to find expression. To excuse sin that has not been forsaken is as treacherous as to hide willingly behind the mortal plea, "the best I can do." There must be an honest willingness to let sin be uncovered. No amount of emotional pity can take the place of a clear, consistently selfless desire to see more of the kingdom of heaven revealed on earth. An earnest endeavor to let God reveal Himself to human consciousness must be accompanied by gentleness.

In the humanizing process, Love at times may demand proof of human selflessness by presenting humble, menial tasks to be performed. Ruth was willing to go out into the fields of Boaz and glean with the reapers. The Magdalen was content to wash Jesus' feet. Yet when any individual has worked out for himself, without a sense of humiliation, the fact that any task can glorify God,—that it is a joy to lay aside self,—such a person continually reflects greater dominion. When the joy of service has been tasted, one may be prone to dwell too much upon the kind deeds, instead of seeing them merely as symbols of a more Christlike consciousness. The Christ was not lost in the human work of Jesus, but shone more radiantly and impersonally as each footstep was taken. The happiness of being a "servant in the house" can enlarge into the glory of claiming sonship with God.

In "Christ and Christmas" (p. 27) Mrs. Eddy points clearly the path through the footsteps of Christ Jesus, when she writes:—

"For Sharon's rose must bud and bloom
In human heart."

As the flowers of self-forgetfulness and gentleness expand into rejoicing over the wholeness of man,—the complete reflection of God,—the Christian metaphysician catches glimpses of the ever present Christ.

A sense of self-responsibility drops away before the assurance of ever present Love,—Love which is not dependent upon personal aid for its manifestation, but is always free to all. Then, real gentleness is acknowledging and demonstrating that the Christ-qualities are available now, "with grace towards you and me" (ibid.). That glorious fact leaves no place for fear or hate to creep in to mar the touch of Truth in any human heart.

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