Rest and Strength

Duncan Sinclair

How often have these words of Isaiah brought consolation and peace to the weary and heavy-laden: "He giveth power the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength"! The very words themselves carry confidence with them and the power to renew faith; and with the renewal of faith there is a diminution of weakness and a proportionate increase in strength. Many a one has been helped in exactly that way by the profound prophetical utterances of the Old and New Testaments, which speak of God's protecting care.

Is there a law, then, governing rest and strength? Assuredly there is; but it is not a law of matter. Vain have been the attempts of men along material lines to induce rest and to bring back strength. The utmost, perhaps, they have been able to do in this direction is to stupefy for a time by means of a narcotic, thereby rendering the one in need of rest insensible to the difficulty, and leaving him to what is termed the recuperative power of nature! Such efforts must always be erratic and unreliable, because they do not take into account the most important factor of all, the spiritual condition of the patient.

Now it is with spiritual conditions Christian Science deals. Whatever the nature of the case, be it disease, sin, sorrow, need of rest, or lack of strength, Christian Science has one remedy, namely, true spiritual understanding, correct knowledge of God and His creation, including man. And this understanding goes back to the very fundamentals of Being. What are some of these fundamentals? First, that God is infinite Spirit; secondly, that man as the image of God is spiritual, not material, and that he reflects all the attributes of God, including rest and strength. These are absolute spiritual truths from which there can be no deviation.

What bearing has what has just been said on the human problems of rest and strength? Here mankind is found believing in the reality of matter, believing that there is life in matter, and that rest and strength are dependent upon material conditions. Christian Science shows that it is precisely this believing in the reality and power of matter which induces the very circumstances mankind would so gladly be rid of. And how does Christian Science handle the situation? By giving the lie direct to matter, to every material belief, to every seeming effect of material belief, holding to the truths of God's allness and man's perfection as God's spiritual idea.

On page 80 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "We have strength in proportion to our apprehension of the truth, and our strength is not lessened by giving utterance to truth." Then, immediately after this profound utterance, she adds a sentence which is probably of far greater significance than many may be willing to admit at present. The sentence runs, "A cup of coffee or tea is not the equal of truth, whether for the inspiration of a sermon or for the support of bodily endurance."

When we have taken up the study of Christian Science in earnest and with the determination to demonstrate the truths it unfolds, sometimes a great deal of adjustment has to be made in our thinking. But as the adjustment should be the result of demonstration, the student should not allow himself to feel oppressed or driven. Step by step we all must demonstrate the allness of Spirit and the unreality of matter; step by step we all must gain the victory over material sense, find ourselves resting more and more in the truth of Being and becoming proportionably stronger through our apprehension of man's true spiritual nature. So that we should be watchful not to be hypercritical of the progress of our fellow students, who may be doing their utmost to throw off the yoke of material bondage. The experiences of no two persons are ever exactly the same. There is therefore the necessity for every Christian Scientist to judge righteous judgment, and righteous judgment alone, leaving his fellowmen to God and the perfect justice of God's eternally perfect laws.

Many a time in the midst of the fray the Christian Scientist finds himself in need of rest and strength. The remedy is always at hand. He has but to let his thoughts turn to God, Truth, and remain there affirmatively. Even should he have to make an effort to do so, he will have his reward; for, as Mrs. Eddy says on page 426 of Science and Health, "The stuggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one." Let us take heart, then, all we who are working for the fuller coming of Christ's kingdom on earth, remembering the words which introduce the Master's parable of the importunate widow: "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint."

Duncan Sinclair

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