Reflecting and Collecting Good

[Of Special Interest to Children]

CLAIRE E. MOORE

"Oh , Mother, I had the loveliest day at the beach, and I found so many new shells for my collection!"

Janie's mother smiled. She was glad to have her little girl home again, and glad too that Janie had had such a good time, Janie and her family had not lived in Florida very long, and the wide white sand beaches were a source of endless fun and adventure. Someone had told Janie that the shells were the ocean's flowers, and Janie never tired of hunting for the lovely colored ones.

All evening Janie worked with her shells, picking out the perfect ones, labeling and carefully pulling each one in its place in her collection. Her eyes were shining as she brought the finished boxes to her mother, pointing out the newer and rarer shells she had found, and saying over and over again: "Look, Mother! Every shell is perfect. I haven't put in a single imperfect one."

It was almost bedtime, but Janie and Mother talked awhile about the happy holiday. It was such fun, Mother," said Janie. "But you should have heard Mary Jane. She got so cross because she couldn't find any new shells for her collection. And Betsy got tired before we had walked half as far as we had planned to go. She wanted to go back. I like Margaret Ann so much, but Sarah ..."

"Wait a minute, Janie." Her mother picked up the boxes of lovely, perfect shells and walked across the room to where Janie had left a pile of discarded, broken shells. Without saying a word, her mother took several of the marred, chipped shells and began arranging them in Janie's perfect collection.

"Oh, Mother," cried Janie, "don't do that. Every shell I have kept is perfect. I don't want those ugly ones. Look, they spoil my collection."

"So they do," said Mother. "Do you see any connection between them and what you've just been saying?"

Janie was thoughtful a moment. "Oh, I see what you mean. My Sunday school teacher told us just last Sunday always to say kind things about people. Truly, Mother, I'm sorry. I didn't think. She explained that because God is good, all His children are good, for each one is God's image and likeness. Honestly, Mother, I love Mary Jane and Betsy and all the girls. We did have a lovely day."

Mother took Janie on her lap, and together they removed the broken shells from the collection. "There, Janie," and Mother kissed her, "the wrong thoughts have been corrected, and the collection once more contains only the beautiful and perfect shells. From now on let us go on a collecting expedition each day. It will be a lovelier, grander adventure than collecting rare and perfect shells."

Mother continued, "Remember the beatitude that says. 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God'? We will start our expedition each day with thoughts so pure that we shall see God good, everywhere. In 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures' (pp. 476, 477) Mary Baker Eddy says: 'Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick.' Let us try to do as Jesus did, to see the perfect child of God. Jesus healed and blessed everywhere he went because he knew that God is Love and Truth and Life, all good, and that man is God's image and likeness, always reflecting good.

"You see, Janie," Mother added, "when we are knowing this truth, we say only kind things about people because we are entertaining nothing but God-given thoughts about them. We are reflecting God, good, and so are daily collecting good. When evening comes we shall find that we have a lovely collection to arrange, a collection of happy memories of the good we have done and seen during the day. We must be careful, however, not to start out on a faultfinding expedition, but always to go on a good-finding expedition in order to keep our collection perfect."

"Oh, Mother, I like that plan," Jame said. "And when we see good all the time, we shall heal and bless the way Jesus did."

"Yes, Janie." smiled Mother happily, "we shall. We should keep in thought that verse in the Bible which says (Zeph. 3:15), 'The king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shall not see evil any more.'"

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