The Mission of a Christian Science Tract

BY L. M. EARLE.

The article entitled, "Love's Messenger," which appeared in the Sentinel of February 15, brought very forcibly to mind the mission another Christian Science tract had to perform. Hoping it may help to further illustrate the good accomplished by sending out these little missionaries of Love, or any of the Christian Science publications, I will give it.

Before I had heard anything of Christian Science except the name and a little unintelligible talk about it and its claim to heal the sick, my only child passed through a severe and dangerous illness. At this time my sister was in the East visiting the family of a physician whose wife was a Christian Scientist and one of Mrs. Eddy's students.

My mother sent my sister daily letters, in one of which she gave the diagnosis of the attending physician and described the symptoms, asking her to give it to the doctor and see what he could suggest. She did so and sent us his opinion and suggestions. The physician's wife enclosed a Christian Science tract which she hoped might lead us to seek help from God the great Physician. Out of gratitude I read the tract but it was meaningless, and I thrust it, as I supposed, away. None of us had sufficient faith in God to believe that He could or would heal our loved one unaided by the doctors and the material means that were being used, but we did believe that He possessed the power to take that life so precious to us, and lived in hourly terror that He would. I personally believed God was Love, because the Bible said so, but I thought of Him with more fear than love, more doubt than trust, and as too far away, vague, and shadowy to be a present help in time of trouble. I could not realize that the promises in the Bible were meant for me. So the doctor's suggestions were considered of more importance and value than the tract.

Nine months later I was driven to seek help from Christian Science for myself. Before any literature had been given me to read or I had even seen "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," I wished that I had that tract, showing that some thought in it had unconsciously been lingering in memory. For some unaccountable reason my mother had saved it when I cast it away, and had kept it all that time unknown to me, so when I needed it it was ready for its work. I read and re-read it, trying to imbibe its spirit and make its teaching practical. I feel sure that it was a factor in the demonstration that was made for me. It had a mission to perform and it could not be lost or destroyed until Love's work was done.

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