Article October 31, 1936 Issue

Does the Way Seem Narrow?

[Written Especially for Young People]

OLIVE B. BIRNAGE

The statement of Christ Jesus, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," gave one young student of Christian Science a good deal of anxious thought. It seemed as though the old adage, "It's dull to be good," was confirmed by this saying.

When among friends who were not interested in Christian Science, this young man constantly heard the more serious-minded, or those who refused to drink or smoke, labeled "narrow-minded." Later he began to listen to the mesmeric suggestion that he was missing what is called "a good time" by trying to live up to what he had been taught in the Christian Science Sunday School. He certainly did not want to be thought narrow, and yet he knew that Mrs. Eddy, whom he had learned to love as the Founder and Leader of the Christian Science movement, would not have denounced the use of tobacco unless it were gratification of a false appetite. So he drifted a little, and occasionally smoked on invitation rather than seem conspicuous and narrow.

The day came when he wished to go into training in order to join a sports team. The trainer's order was "No smoking." By this time he had become accustomed to the use of tobacco and found it quite difficult to drop it. Then in a flash he saw that the habit of smoking was part of the extra baggage he was trying to carry with him up the mountain described by Mrs. Eddy in an article entitled "An Allegory" in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 323). He saw how stupid it was to hold on to matter when what he really wanted was to climb above it. At this point the habit of smoking became distasteful to him, and he was grateful for the freedom from that particular bondage. In dropping this earth weight he that discovered that his friends respected him, for through this experience he had risen in the scale of being, and his happiness was increased rather than diminished.

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