Editorial May 11, 1957 Issue

THE AXE AT THE ROOT

Harold Molter

A man once had a garden with a lovely view beyond it to the sea. One day he noticed that a small tree which he had not planted was beginning to obstruct the view that had given him much pleasure. So he cut the trunk of the tree near the ground and removed the obstruction. Soon, however, sprouts appeared, and a new tree began to grow at a swift pace out of the roots of the earlier one. The man then tore the tree up by the roots and burned it; and thus he removed the interference permanently.

There is an important lesson for the Christian Scientist in this story. It gives him the clue to the elimination of all discord from his experience. Christian Science teaches us that there is more to any erroneous condition than that which is apparent to the material senses. Sickness, poverty, and other discordant conditions are merely the outward evidence of some erroneous thought, a false belief entertained in consciousness. In fact, Christian Science teaches that the material condition and the erroneous thought are one and the same—a false belief or illusion. It is the false belief, the root of the evil, which needs to be handled, and when it is, the material evidence disappears.

On one occasion, when multitudes came to be baptized by John the Baptist, he called on them to show their repentance by bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. And he added (Luke 15:9), "Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

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