Article July 27, 1940 Issue

"When thou hast shut thy door"

EMMA EASTON NEWMAN

IN human procedures one does not look for results until the necessary conditions have been complied with. For example, when one inserts a key in a lock and turns it in the proper direction, the door will open. If the key be not inserted and turned, the door remains locked. In other words, results are to be expected only when directions have been followed to the letter. This is true in following the directions of the master Christian, Christ Jesus; and yet, are the specifications always heeded and followed?

In the sixth chapter of Matthew the important word "when," occurs six times in the first seven verses. Jesus was giving most explicit directions not only to his immediate disciples, but to his followers throughout all time. Not by parable in this instance, but in forthright instruction coupled with readily understood illustration, he gives the procedure to be observed when giving alms and when praying. When dispensing alms there is to be no fanfare, no publicity. Not letting the left hand know what the right hand does means that the dispenser must be so free from the thought of personal giving that God is recognized as the one real Giver. The wrong way of self-glorification must be avoided, and the correct, unselfed way be carried out before the Father's open reward can be experienced.

A clear exposition of Jesus' directions to his followers concerning prayer has come in our day through the words of Mary Baker Eddy in her great work, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," a part of which reads (p. 15), "The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit, the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and Love." And she adds: "In order to pray aright, we must enter into the closet and shut the door. We must close the lips and silence the material senses." Often in the Bible and in Mrs. Eddy's writings the word "door" is used metaphorically, and a study of references under this word is illuminating. A door is a bar against that which is untoward; when it is closed there is safety. It may be opened to admit fresh air and sunshine, or a desired guest. Jesus strikingly said, "I am the door of the sheep." This metaphor is explained by one who has lived in Palestine (see "A Life of Jesus" by Basil Matthews, p. 322). He pictures the shepherd striding ahead, the sheep trotting after him until they reach "the round wall of unhewn stone." The sheep run through its only entrance. The shepherd, wrapped in his burnous, curls up in this entrance and becomes literally the door protecting his sheep.

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