Article May 31, 1982 Issue

Revelation and trial

KEITH NEALY

Sometimes when you've just had a wonderful revelation—come from the mount of prayer—you may seem to be confronted with troubles. You may be tempted to ask, What's gone wrong? Nothing. It's time to make the inspiration practical.

Thinking of these trials as practical tests, opportunities to prove the validity and vitality of the inspiration, removes any superstitious feeling that error is "out to get us." These experiences can confirm the true and expose the false. Proof is very important in Christian Science, and one meaning of "proof" is "a testing or trying of something." Without proof we could never be certain that this revelation is true. To eliminate the proof would be to eliminate the usefulness of the Science.

After learning our lessons in school we were usually tested on them. Most of us didn't look forward to these tests, but I remember one subject in which I did. It was high-school mathematics, and I was always eager to take my finals because I knew I could get a perfect score. Other exams, however, I dreaded. I wasn't sure I knew enough or could express it well enough. The point is simple. We're never worried about a test in which we know that we know the answers. It's no big deal.

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