"The brook in the way"

CLARA SCHRADER STREETER

How delighted is the traveler along some dusty highway or sun-bleached mountain pass when he comes unexpectedly upon a spring of cool, sparkling water filtering through the cleansing earth or trickling out of a rock-worn channel! How quickly he fills his cup, or gathers the water dripping into his hands, and quenches his thirst with refreshing draughts! The long journey is forgotten; the landscape brightens; a gentle breeze seems to stir the humid air; and he continues on his way rejoicing.

Stopping one day for a drink from a little rivulet which trickled down a mountain side, a student of Christian Science recalled a beautiful and instantaneous healing which had come to her when she was just beginning to learn the spiritual import of the Bible, as interpreted in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. This student for a long time had suffered from severe and protracted headaches, from which there had come no relief through material remedies; and because of the fear thus engendered, her complete healing under Christian Science treatment had seemed slow. Upon one occasion, when it was not convenient to ask a practitioner's aid, she had turned to the Bible for inspiration, and, after she had read awhile, her attention was attracted to a passage she had never before noticed in the one hundred and tenth psalm. It was this: "He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head." Instantly she saw the spiritual meaning of this passage and its application to her own case; and she was almost startled to find how quickly relief had come. Thirsting for the living waters of demonstrable Truth, she had found this wayside stream of Love, and had drunk at its healing fount.

Everywhere in our daily affairs we find that divine Love has provided little wayside brooks of inspiration and comfort if we will but turn aside for a moment and drink of them,—understand their spiritual meaning. In line with this is the illuminating statement from Science and Health (p. 234), in which Mrs. Eddy points out that "whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love—be it song, sermon, or Science—blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty." Spiritual perception, from whatsoever source it may seem to come, so fills thought with heavenly light that material conditions of suffering or discomfort fade from consciousness, and healing then follows as naturally as when the flowers in our gradens revive after a shower. How quickly they lift their drooping heads and shake the delusion of withering from their leaves! How they nod their appreciation of the lavish cool rain that has come to assist them in their growing and blossoming! In the same way, the right understanding of God's goodness blesses the human flowers, causing them to grow and prosper and to reflect the "beauty of holiness."

It is not enough that we ourselves should find the healing springs along the way. Others, also, desire to find them; but false beliefs have dimmed their vision, and their ears, so attuned to material sounds, do not catch the music of the waters rippling joyously with a message of Love, which heals and transforms. How shall they be awakened from their dreams of pleasure and pain in matter, that they may hear the prophetic voice still calling, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters"? Who will lead them to some spring-fed well and tell them of the "living waters," the Christ-message of spiritual living,—understanding which shall quench all earthly longings? Surely those who have drunk deeply at the wellspring of Truth and have been healed will give directions to other travelers. They will remember our Leader's earnest appeal in Science and Health (p. 570), where she says: "Millions of unprejudiced minds—simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert—are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences." Throughout the Scriptures, water symbolizes the spiritual understanding which leads into the demonstration of eternal life. The word "brook" may be said to typify the "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God," to which all are invited, as the Revelator so lovingly states: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

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