Secret Alms

Ella W. Hoag

It was a very large demand which Jesus made upon all his followers when he said, "When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth;" and with how beautiful a promise did he conclude: "And thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly"!

There are probably few mortals who have not been conscious of desiring that their good deeds should be widely known. Otherwise, ask they, what is their value? Sometimes this desire has been prompted by the most selfish motives. They have imagined satisfaction could be found in having self-love and pride pampered by the praise of men, and so have proclaimed their own works to that end.

Many a one, however, has learned through keen humiliation that self-glorification brings censure from one's neighbors quite as frequently as praise. And why? Because even from an ordinary human standpoint "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Human pride, like any other evil belief, when presented personally will often seem to call forth a larger personal sense of its own evil in resentment against the lesser claim.

Through just such experiences men may be awakened to see that selfish methods must be relinquished for something higher if their acts are to be truly commended by others. In spite of this, the question is still apt to recur: How can my good accomplishments be recognized and appreciated if I myself do not call attention to them? But there stands the command of Jesus: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth"!

Christian Science has found many a Christian at the point in his journey Spiritward where he desires to do good that good may result for others; he may even have seen that he wants through his alms—his righteous deeds—to glorify God, not himself. And still he is confronted with the apparent dilemma of how to have his good works known, and thus proved to be an influence for good, without himself entering into their exploitation.

Christian Science speedily shows the way out of this difficulty, since it instructs us to turn entirely from a selfish standpoint to one that is based on divine Principle. It reveals the way to leave self for God, and the first step is always to obey Jesus' commands. Since in this connection he has told us positively not to let one hand know what the other does, we must—if we would be obedient—cease from spending time or thought on the magnifying of our own works. Even our own right hand must not know what our left hand has done. How necessary, then, to protect ourselves from our own belief that we have done anything of ourselves apart from God!

As the Christian Scientist begins to comprehend the beauty of this method, he also begins to find that it frees him from troublesome burdens. Because he is delivered from false responsibility in performing the works, he discovers that he is also free from looking after them when they are completed. He comes to realize that his only concern is always to reflect God, good. Then God, who has caused the works,—the reflection,—will continue to care most tenderly and perfectly for His own. In other words, the works will be seen of men, glorifying the Giver in His own wise way.

And "thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." What Christian Scientist has not found his heart filled with overflowing peace and gratitude when he has unselfed his efforts to reflect good by laying off the beliefs in personal power, personal prestige, personal accomplishment, thus realizing that it is the Father that worketh in him who doeth the works. Such a one can never fail to find, as our beloved Leader has told us in her Message to The Mother Church for 1902 (p. 17), that "conscious worth satisfies the hungry heart, and nothing else can."

As we grow closer to our Father-Mother God through putting off the separating beliefs of a personal selfhood,—that selfhood which claims to desire and work only for its own glory,—we find unfolding to our uplifted consciousness such an understanding of our unity with things unseen to material sense that we begin to realize something of the way in which our Father-Mother God rewards us openly. Men will then rejoice in the good we have reflected, because they thereby have themselves learned to know more of God and His infinite goodness. Then our hearts will join with theirs in devout praise and thanksgiving, for we shall have understood something of what our precious Leader meant when she wrote in the poem entitled "Wish and Item" (Poems, p. 38):

"Then if we've done to others
Some good ne'er told before,
When angels shall repeat it,
'Twill be an item more."

Ella W. Hoag

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit