Article February 6, 1926 Issue

Compassion

MILLIE I. IRWIN

Everywhere the need for compassion is apparent. Law is essential to the orderly development and advancement of civilization; but to succeed, it must be accompanied by the spiritual qualities of divine justice, truth, and compassion. Compassion is absolutely essential in the practice of Christian Science. It always accompanies the merited rebuke, the execution of righteous judgment, the mercy that does not permit a retaliation of error but makes room for the Christ.

The highest expression of compassion is shown in those wonderful words of the Master, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," even after human hatred of the Christ-idea had nailed him to the cross. Human forgiveness may be granted another for wrongdoing, but spiritual understanding requires and demands the compassion that discerns the unreality of error and perceives no trace of it marring the beauty of God's perfect reflection, man. It has been said of Abraham Lincoln, "His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong."

Our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has given us a life-example of this virtue. Faithful at her post of duty, her gaze was always fixed upon the sublime heights of spiritual existence, but her humanity was in close touch with the sufferings and needs of her fellow-men. Compassion was the keynote of her successful life. Compassion is the keynote of Christian Science in its gospel of healing and redemption to-day.

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The Awakening
February 6, 1926
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