Article June 24, 1972 Issue

Making the Best of Things

GERTRUDE E. VELGUTH

"You know, I'm puzzled. Why do the Christian Scientists I've met select such beautiful things and take such good care of them?" This from a skilled restorer of antique furniture to whom I had taken a chair for repair. "Before I got into this business," he went on, "I thought matter—material things—didn't mean much to you people. I thought it was mind, not matter."

"Well, maybe I can explain," I said. "Let me tell you what this chair really means to me as a Christian Scientist. It is not just a thing of wood, fabric, springs, cushions. Patience and persistence went into its making over a hundred years ago. Durability was built into it. And it's beautiful.

"To the casual observer, it may seem merely an old piece of furniture. Yet it really typifies qualities and ideas, such as beauty, symmetry, utility. These are represented in human experience by the chair, which may seem to wear out, but the qualities and ideas can't ever wear out or be destroyed. Divine Mind maintains them. They are spiritual and eternal."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Do You Want to Get Married?