Article October 15, 1938 Issue

Minding One's Own Business

[Written Especially for Young People]

CARL WALTER GEHRING

The girl was a member of a Christian Science Sunday School. She had found that it was indeed a school, for it was teaching her how to think correctly concerning the problems which arose in her daily experience.

One of her activities had to do with a dancing class, in which she was an outstanding pupil. Her ambition was to do something worth while in the future. She had ability, and was getting along excellently, until one day a new pupil, who was clearly a better dancer than she was, entered the class. First position in the class now went to the newcomer, and the student of Christian Science became a disconsolate second. Envy took possession of her. Instead of practicing industriously to benefit from the instruction, as she had always done she nursed a grievance because the other girl seemed assured of the solo exhibition which was awarded to the best dancer in the class at the exercises that closed the yearly session. She herself had been certain of the solo up to that time.

As the dancing class progressed, the young Christian Scientist spent more and more time unhappily watching the newcomer's dancing and hopelessly wishing that she could dance as well, with the result that her own dancing began to suffer. Then discouragement so engaged her thoughts that she became unhappy and a mediocre dancer. And, worse still she seemed unable to apply her knowledge of Christian Science to the situation that was causing her distress.

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