Article March 13, 1909 Issue

THE VALUE OF PERSISTENCE

REV. MARTIN SINDELL.

Some years ago a distinguished clergyman was inspecting the machinery in a large manufacturing establishment. A heavy bar of iron, suspended horizontally from a beam some twenty feet above his head, attracted his attention, and he inquired of his guide as to what the bar was there for. Said the guide: "That bar is five feet long, and weighs five hundred pounds. If your eyes are sharp enough, you will detect a cork close to it, suspended by a thread. If the cork is pulled far out to one side, and allowed to bound against the bar,—you may not believe it, but that cork will make the bar swing to and fro in a wonderful manner." "I am like a doubting Thomas," replied the clergyman; "I must see it demonstrated before I can believe it." "Very well," the guide remarked, "my time is at your disposal, so I will show you what the little cork can do;" and soon the cork was bounding and rebounding against the heavy bar of iron. Five minutes went by, and there was no perceptible effect. The visitor began to smile. Ten minutes, and his smile grew broader. Fifteen minutes slipped away; then twenty; and still there was no movement of the bar. At the end of twenty-four minutes the clergyman exclaimed, "My doubts are verified! I did not think it could be done." "Just wait a minute or two," the guide replied; and sure enough, at the end of twenty-five minutes there was a slight tremore in the bar, and a moment later it began to move. Five minutes more, and it was swinging to and fro in a marvelous manner—all done by so slight a thing as the weight of a cork!

Jesus said to his disciples: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." He taught the possibility of removing mountains of error through the understanding and application of "a grain" of truth. The old saying that "a small drop of ink ... makes thousands, perhaps millions, think," has its counterpart in the thought that a slight understanding of Truth will destroy much sin and sickness. That this is true has been demonstrated thousands of times since the discovery of Christian Science. It is not by material might, but by the gentle, unseen activity of Life, Truth, and Love that these "marvels" are wrought. When Elijah fled at the threat of Jezebel and hid in a cave, he received a command from the Lord to go forth upon the mountain, and there he witnessed what we would perhaps call a cyclone. This was followed by an earthquake, and later by a fire,—"but the Lord was not" in any of these: "and after the fire a still small voice." This was God's voice, the felt presence of the most High,—the All-powerful.

In Science and Health (p. 367) we read: "The infinite Truth of the Christ-cure has come to this age through a 'still, small voice,' through silent utterances and divine anointing which quicken and increase the beneficial effects of Christianity." The gentle way is the manner in which Christian Science heals. In some cases, he who realizes the truth for his patient may find it necessary to continue his work for days, weeks, or even months; but let him persist, as did the man until he finally succeeded in swaying the iron bar, and success will surely come, for hath not God said, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void." The work of destroying sin and disease goes steadily on, even though it be by means which seem as nothing to human sense; if, however, these means are allied to Truth, they will remove every mountain of error, and reveal the ceaseless action of God's law.

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