Article January 23, 1937 Issue

Grateful Giving

EMILY SHANKLIN ALLAN

Grateful giving covers a large area for every Christian Scientist. The willingness to give must necessarily include a willingness to devote time and thought to finding the best way of giving in every situation. This best way includes Christlike patience and tender love, linked with never-failing gratitude to God for the truth revealed in Christian Science.

Sometimes we may lose an opportunity to give while waiting to render a service we may deem more worth while, forgetting that a kindly thought or a word of praise may change the whole current of a needy one's life. Encouragement many times is the one thing needed to lift a brother man out of discouragement and hopelessness. It is needed to water the soil of every thirsty heart. If we have felt the need of encouragement ourselves—and who has not—we shall be watchful that we do not withhold it from others. Our ability to encourage others must spring from an understanding of God, and a selfless desire to see from their viewpoint. The opposite attitude of condemnation is apt to arise from too hastily judging conditions as they appear on the surface, thus allowing a critical attitude to take the place of the love which reflects Love, and which would heal the condition.

In establishing the Wednesday meetings, our Leader has afforded us a wonderful opportunity for grateful giving. We realize that the object of these meetings is to praise God for the demonstration of Truth, to help our fellow men, and thus pay in a small measure our debt of gratitude for all that Christian Science has done and is continuously doing for mankind. The many experiences we have heard from people who have been healed or encouraged to make a fresh start as a result of hearing testimonies of healing given by others, enable us to welcome these weekly opportunities, even though our own speaking may entail much self-sacrifice, much putting down of sensitiveness and fear. Sometimes we may fear the unusual experience of hearing our own voice in public, or perhaps more often may dread other people's opinions. A deep yearning to give is the only remedy for these phases of self.

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