Article April 25, 1931 Issue

"According to the pattern"

HELEN MARION COOPER

To teach a class in needlework it was necessary to complete a pattern by certain definite, orderly steps. The complete pattern was shown, the necessary steps were explained in sequence, and the pupils were told to produce similar work. Soon a sense of confusion and dismay arose, and when inquiry was made as to the cause of the disturbance it was found that many of the pupils were anxious about a certain step to be taken. In their haste and enthusiasm they had hurried on with the pattern, not being willing to work it out step by step, but hoping, by omitting what seemed to them to be unnecessary processes, to reach the finished pattern by an easier and quicker way.

They were shown that all the steps indicated were necessary and important, and that only as they obeyed each and every rule in the order prescribed could a perfect pattern be achieved. In a very short time the confusion was replaced by a positive sense of joyous achievement as each worker followed obediently and intelligently every single step.

In our experience, does it not seem that we sometimes become confused and anxious in working out our problems in Christian Science? We desire—oh, so earnestly!—to become perfect, to produce work "according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount;" but do we not frequently resent the need of taking the necessary human footsteps?

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