Article September 19, 1953 Issue

Teaching Great Possibilities

Everyone is interested in great possibilities. Hence the Christian Science Sunday School teacher may ponder with profit the words of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 445), "Teach the great possibilities of man endued with divine Science." Such instruction is sure to engage the attention and interest of every pupil in the class, whether it is a class of little ones or of older pupils. If the pupils are restless and their thought is easily distracted, the teacher should give heed to presenting the lessons in such a way that the pupils recognize the value of putting into practice in their own daily living the truth they are being taught.

Teaching "the great possibilities of man endued with divine Science" is quite naturally a part of our Sunday School work, beginning with the primary classes, for among the first lessons of the children, as defined in Section 3 of Article XX of the Manual of The Mother Church, our Leader includes the Scriptural verses that we call the Beatitudes. Nowhere in the Bible or in any other writings can we find so sublime a summary of great possibilities as in this portion of Scripture—such possibilities as: "Their's is the kingdom of heaven" "They shall be comforted," "They shall inherit the earth," et cetera. The Beatitudes open the Sermon on the Mount, which might be termed a divine digest of the teachings of the great Master. And it is important that the Sunday School pupils learn the Beatitudes word for word as presented in the Bible. The passages are brief but endlessly comprehensive, and if the child while becoming familiar with the letter learns to put them into practice, he will find these truths becoming part of his own unfoldment.

If a child is not learning to put these valuable lessons into practice, we sometimes find that he is able to repeat only scattered fragments of the verses. For example, he may remember the words, "Blessed are the merciful," without being able to finish the passage. It is well that the child know that the merciful are blessed; but how much more there is to the beatitude than just this! The child should know not only that the merciful are blessed, but also that they who are merciful shall obtain mercy. Without an understanding of the complete statement the child does not comprehend the operation of the divine law. On the other hand, if in his relationship with one of his associates he has been misunderstood and feels he has received unmerciful treatment, when he turns to this beatitude he is assured that his freedom lies in his own exemplification of mercy. Once a child has made such a demonstration he is not likely to forget the whole beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

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