Article March 12, 1927 Issue

Keeping the City

MARJORIE BULMER

"Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain," declared the Psalmist. In an old city in the north of England there is written across the front of the town hall the words, "Except the Lorde keepeth ye City, ye Wakeman waketh in vain." In this ancient town it is claimed that for many centuries the old custom has existed, persisting to the present day, for the wakeman (watchman) to set watch every night, by blowing a horn in the market square at nine o'clock. The writer lived for many years in this city, and has often listened on still summer evenings to the long, peculiar blast given out on this curious old horn; but it was not until she heard of Christian Science and began to study its teaching that the beauty of the city motto dawned on her thought.

It was seen that except God, or good, keep the city (our consciousness) our efforts to keep and maintain protection, peace, and security, will be of small avail. It is only as we begin to watch with the thoughts of wisdom, Truth, and Love that we can build a sure defense and be safe from all that would harm or destroy. On page 392 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "Stand porter at the door of thought;" and farther on in the same paragraph she says, "The issues of pain or pleasure must come through mind, and like a watchman forsaking his post, we admit the intruding belief, forgetting that through divine help we can forbid this entrance."

It is more difficult to perceive an enemy when it is dark than when it is light; for then his plans and movements are less easily discerned and apprehended. And so it is in human experience. When the darkness of mental error manifests itself, we need to be alert and awake watchmen and to keep a close guard over our mental city. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 114) our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, emphasizes this when she says: "Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to God too fervently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the lives of mortals."

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The Longing to Bless
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