Article December 26, 1925 Issue

The Christlike Touch

ALEXANDER WARENDORFF

NAUGHT but Christian Science can define the Christlike touch. It is like the balm of heaven; it is the very highest form of compassion. A consciousness imbued with thoughts of compassion may be likened to the syringa shrub which one may pass on a dusky evening while walking along a country lane; though unseen with the eye, one becomes aware of its presence by the sweet aroma it exhales. Just so is it with a mind filled with thoughts of love and tenderness: it is constantly reflecting joy and gratitude; it is always moved by the distresses of others; it is always ready to be helpful. A consciousness so imbued heals spontaneously.

The familiar story of Ruth in the Old Testament furnishes a helpful lesson, and shows the value of cultivating this most desirable quality of thought. The story is the domestic history of a family of simple people who were compeled by the urgency of famine to abandon the land Canaan and seek asylum in Moab. Elimelech, the head of the family, early passed away in the land of his sojourn, and his two sons soon afterward took themselves wives. One son married Orpah, the other, Ruth. Shortly afterward these two young men died, and Naomi, the widowed parent, resolved to return to her native country and kindred. The filial affections of her two daughters-in-law were put to a severe test. Ruth stood the test of true compassion and selflessness, while Orpah, thinking chiefly of self, decided to part from Naomi. By cleaving to her bereaved mother-in-law, for the sole purpose of comforting her, Ruth was unexpectedly rewarded by her betrothal and marriage to Boaz. From this union sprang Obed; from Obed, Jesse; from Jesse, David; and from the house of David came our Saviour. So Ruth has the great distinction of being named as one of the ancestors in the genealogy of Christ Jesus, while Orpah is never again mentioned in the sacred Scriptures. What a vast gulf exists between selfishness and unselfishness! One who permits selfishness to govern his thinking shuts himself out from Truth; while another, governed by unselfish thoughts, basks in the warm sunshine of Love.

Without doubt the most compassionate man who ever lived was Christ Jesus. The whole earthly life of our Saviour was spent in helping his fellow-men. Many who came within the radius of his thought were helped and healed. Although the most exact scientific thinker the world has ever known, yet Jesus never forgot to be humanly kind and loving. He never refused aid to any sincere seeker. He was always ready to do God's work. When the centurion asked for help for his servant, he was ready to go and heal him. When the father of a beloved child besought him to come and restore his dear one, who had, to sense, departed this life, he went straightway and raised the damsel. After the multitude had been with him for three days listening to his precious words, he had compassion on them and would not send them away hungry. He was constantly "moved with compassion" by the distresses and sufferings of others; yet this human sympathy did not prevent him from healing them and supplying all their immediate needs. While our Master would brook no interference with his divine commission as God's beloved messenger,—no, not even from his earthly mother,—yet at the cross behold the tender solicitude for her, shown by his words, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!" Here we see exemplified the truth of the words of our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 25): "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus." When the beloved disciple John leaned on Jesus' breast, there is no evidence in the Gospels to show that the Master pushed him away. From this and many other accounts of the Scriptures, we see that there can be no icy aloofness in the hearts of those who love as Jesus loved. Earnest Christian Scientists are not like the priest and Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan. They do not commit the sin of omission; they do not pass by on the other side. They are always ready, when an opportunity to do good presents itself, to help a distressed brother.

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Joyous Progress
December 26, 1925
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