Editorial August 27, 1927 Issue

On Being Fully Persuaded

Ella W. Hoag

Right persuasion is a gentle method of approach which, when used in favor of all that is good and true, wins many to better ways of thinking and living where aggressive arguments only repel. In writing to a Christian Scientist (see The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 247) Mrs. Eddy once said: "God has called you to be a fisher of men. It is not a stern but a loving look which brings forth mankind to receive your bestowal,—not so much eloquence as tender persuasion that takes away their fear, for it is Love alone that feeds them."

It therefore behooves us all as Christian Scientists to present the truth to others—when called upon to do so either mentally or audibly—with that loving quality which expresses itself in persuasive thought and word and manner. We can do this, however, only as we ourselves have first been persuaded by divine Love to accept and understand the transcendently desirable and real nature of God and all that belongs to Him. Nevertheless, complete persuasion in our own thinking is something which often requires much time and deep experience before it is perfectly and permanently grasped.

Now right persuasion is properly understood only as it is revealed to us through Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy has also written (ibid., p. 3), "This Science is a law of divine Mind, a persuasive animus, an unerring impetus, an everpresent help." Persuasion, then, like all else that is true, must be understood and divinely reflected. We must recognize that it has its basis in the law of God; and it is therefore very important that every student of Christian Science shall gain the understanding of both it and the manner of its application.

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