Article January 2, 1954 Issue

ARE WE BEING TRUE WITNESSES?

J. HELEN SALISBURY

Have you ever found yourself looking aimlessly out of the window, dreaming the time away, when traveling in a streetcar or in an omnibus? Then perhaps an inspector boards the bus and a ripple of activity starts up among the occupants. The passengers are called to action with the words, "Have your tickets ready, please," and the inspector makes the round with a searching eve to see that all the tickets are in order.

Whenever the writer has had this experience, she has welcomed the entrance of the inspector as a reminder to stop indulging in will-o'-the-wisp dreams. Pondering this incident, she has gained valuable spiritual lessons and has often asked herself these searching questions: Are we always ready to lay our thinking open to inspection? Are we constantly increasing our spiritual understanding of the Christ? Are we really bearing witness to the truths of God, man, and the universe?

She has seen that all too often mankind allows itself to drift with the stream of a daily round of activity, instead of remembering that one is in reality God's witness, living in His realm now. In this pure reflection of divine being, no darkness of the so-called carnal mind can lurk. We have to lift our thought above the mesmerism of material existence by showing forth God's glory in everything. This leaves no room for daydreaming, despondency, or self-pity. Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 290), "When thought dwells in God,— and it should not, to our consciousness, dwell elsewhere,—one must benefit those who hold a place in one's memory, whether it be friend or foe, and each share the benefit of that radiation."

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ARE WE BEING TRUE WITNESSES?

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