Article October 22, 1955 Issue

THE JOY OF SEEKING

[Of Special Interest to Young People]

PRISCILLA A. OKIE

Have you ever been in the position of needing healing in Christian Science and of being unable to handle the situation yourself? Have you, in addition, found yourself unwilling to take the problem to a Christian Science practitioner—pride or fear, or perhaps a sense of self-condemnation, deterring you? Such an attitude is just as erroneous as that which causes one to turn constantly to a practitioner for help.

The one who devotes his life to the healing and regeneration of mankind is dedicated to the task of freeing his patients from the crippling claims of disease and other errors. At the same time he encourages them to cultivate that spiritual understanding which leads to the self-reliant trustworthiness spoken of on page 23 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Here its author, Mary Baker Eddy, writes: "One kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's 'own salvation, with fear and trembling.' 'Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!' expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, 'Believe ... and thou shalt be saved!' demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spiritual understanding and confides all to God."

This self-reliance, confiding all to God, implies neither an exalted sense of one's personal abilities nor a stoic determination to keep his problems to himself. In the chapter entitled "Christian Science Practice" Mrs. Eddy states (ibid., p. 420): "If students do not readily heal themselves, they should early call an experienced Christian Scientist to aid them. If they are unwilling to do this for themselves, they need only to know that error cannot produce this unnatural reluctance."

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