Article April 23, 1984 Issue

"Truth communicates itself"

PATRICIA MARY UDALL

How often we may feel the urge to tell others about our wonderful religion, Christian Science. But what can we do when we try to explain it to those we feel will be blessed by it, only to find resistance to our words? Our verbal efforts sometimes appear to cause the very opposite of the result we had intended.

Christ Jesus faced much resistance when he went into the synagogue at Nazareth, where he had grown up. There, when he indicated that he was the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah, those present, who thought they knew him well, became disturbed. When he responded, "No prophet is accepted in his own country"—and reminded them of the remarkable receptiveness of the Sidonite widow and Naaman the Syrian, both non-Jews, to Elijah and Elisha—his listeners became a violent mob. They turned him out of the synagogue and the city—and even tried to throw him over the brow of a hill. "But," Luke tells us, "he passing through the midst of them went his way." Jesus was protected from harm. Continuing on his way, he came to Capernaum. In the synagogue there he found—and healed—"a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil." See Luke 4:16–37.

When we're similarly faced with misunderstanding, opposition, even anger, we can quietly turn to Love's ever-present protection by realizing that we do "not need to fight in this battle" (of words). We can confidently expect to "see the salvation of the Lord," II Chron. 20:17. as Jehoshaphat did in the Old Testament when he was obedient to God's commands. Such an experience can cause us to cherish the Christ, Truth, all the more, and make greater effort to heal any regret, remorse, or even resentment and self-righteousness that suggest themselves to our thought. We can allow our consciousness to become so filled with love and forgiveness that we learn to support our Church in a fresh way by living Christian Science, rather than only talking about it. Healing conveyed Jesus' message in the synagogue in Capernaum. It gave the proof of God's ever-presence and omnipotence, manifest in perfect man. It proved the impotence, the nothingness, of any so-called opposition to Truth. The healing power of the Christ is what attracted multitudes to Jesus, and the multitudes were healed.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Poem
The fruit of the vine
April 23, 1984
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit