Editorial January 12, 1952 Issue

THE VALUE OF THE CHILD THOUGHT

Helen Wood Bauman

The disciples of Christ Jesus once asked him (Matt. 18:1), "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And we are told that, calling a little child to him, he pointed to the humility of the child thought, saying, "Whosoever... shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." It took the wisdom of the master to recognize the value of the child thought, to see that its innocence and purity and teachableness are nearer the truth of being than is the resistant adult consciousness, which has often accepted worldliness and sin. Continuing his discourse, Jesus said, "In heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."

Are we not apt to discount the value of the child because of the immaturity of his human intellect? We need to respect the child's spiritual quality of thought, to look up to it with reverence, and to emulate its unspotted character. No doubt if we did so the child would respond to this right attitude and value his own innocence more highly. As he developed he would cherish his nearness to God's kingdom and cling to the childlike qualifies that link him with it, rather than hasten to depart from them.

Mary Baker Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 62), "Children should be allowed to remain children in knowledge, and should become men and women only through growth in the understanding of man's higher nature." But can they remain children in knowledge when they are permitted to read sordid literature and newspapers and to attend moving pictures without the careful supervision of their elders in the selection of what they see? The child thought which brings heaven to earth by means of its unspoiled purity needs to be protected from the contamination of worldliness. And it needs to be directed toward interest in the power to heal that inheres in purity. Christian Science makes this possible, and in the Christian Science Sunday Schools children are taught to apply the truths of being to that end.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Editorial
DAILY COMMUNION
January 12, 1952
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit