"Father, I thank thee"

LOUISE KNIGHT WHEATLEY COOK

It is wonderful to realize what the children are doing in our midst to-day, those little ones whose pure, simple thought the Master said we must emulate if we too would enter the kingdom. It is marvelous how much may be accomplished by even a very young child when he is taught to make his own demonstrations, and not encouraged to lean upon parent or practitioner. Let no one, through a belief of youth or age, limit his own ability in any situation. We should use what we know, and in so doing we shall advance in the understanding of God's beautiful way of caring for those who trust in Him.

A little boy who was a Christian Scientist was much impressed by the story of Lazarus, and argued to himself that if it were right for Jesus to say, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me," before Lazarus came forth from the tomb, it would be equally right for him to thank God for blessings which belong to God's children, but which human sense would say he did not have. So he began the habit of expressing gratitude for the good which, as God's child, he knew he already had; and it was most interesting to see how many joyous experiences came to him, often in wholly unexpected ways.

To those instructed in Christian Science, however, this should not be surprising, but understood to be in accord with the unchanging, ever available law of God. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has written, "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 261). And our Master said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This is not self-deception. Nothing could be more remote from Christian Science than that system of self-mesmerism which tries to delude mortals into believing what is not true. Christian Science shows us what is true of man in God's image and likeness, and teaches us to hold to that truth in the face of any and all material evidence to the contrary. Christian Science teaches us to understand Jesus' instruction to "believe that ye receive," because it teaches us that all good is already ours as children of the infinite One, from whom comes every good and perfect gift.

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