Article August 20, 1932 Issue

Let the Lord Be Magnified

HELEN MAR BROWN

ONE day a student of Christian Science found herself inclined to criticize an acquaintance who, in her opinion, had done a thoughtless act. The critical spirit was allowed full sway until the dictum was expressed that she had never liked the person in question, and that the person had acted just as might have been expected.

Startled at her own unkind conclusion, the student began to turn the light of criticism within. When she listened to the voice of Truth, instead of to the voice of error, she remembered the admonition of the Psalmist to "magnify the Lord." The verse was familiar, but in the numberless times she had read it or heard it read, the meaning seemed to be simply to praise the Lord. Now it came to her very clearly that the Psalmist was exhorting us to recognize good only. Had she been seeing good only when she had been dwelling on the undesirable traits of another? Was she magnifying God when she was seeing another as an unlovely person, who would necessarily act in an unlovely manner?

Thankful for the voice of God which was speaking to her, the student began to replace the thoughts of antagonism with kindly thoughts. She knew that the person in question had been carrying a heavy burden for years, one which she knew would seem to her very arduous to bear; and it was being carried cheerfully, without complaint. The student realized that what had been needed was a rectifying of her own outlook, and she felt cleansed by the God-given thoughts that now flooded her consciousness. As she felt the purifying process, she remembered Jesus' words uttered in his marvelous Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

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