Article August 23, 1930 Issue

"He . . . took up that whereon he lay"

JEAN MARGARET MUNRO CUNNINGHAM

WHEN Jesus bade the man sick of the palsy who had been let down through the roof, "Arise, and take up thy couch," it is recorded that "immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay."

All through the Bible we find promises assuring us of the change which rightly comes in human circumstances when the presence and power of God are recognized. The Psalmist sang, "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." While it is true that the real man, made in God's image, needs no change, since he abides in Spirit, perfect and eternal, the human recognition of this fact comes through a change in our mental attitude as the mortal sense of things yields to Truth.

The command of Jesus, "Take up thy couch," guided the one who was healed into the completed demostration. In his joy, this newly healed one might have forgotten all about the pallet, which he no longer needed; or he might have considered that it could easily be carried home by the kind friends who had so patiently borne it when he was lying upon it. In the absorption of our own experiences we are apt to cause unnecessary work for others because we have forgotten or neglected to perform our simple duties. Jesus guarded against such heedless thinking; there was no room in his presence for traces or memorials of error.

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