WHEN Jesus bade the man sick of the palsy who had been let down through the roof, "Arise, and take up thy couch," it is recorded that "immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay."

All through the Bible we find promises assuring us of the change which rightly comes in human circumstances when the presence and power of God are recognized. The Psalmist sang, "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." While it is true that the real man, made in God's image, needs no change, since he abides in Spirit, perfect and eternal, the human recognition of this fact comes through a change in our mental attitude as the mortal sense of things yields to Truth.

The command of Jesus, "Take up thy couch," guided the one who was healed into the completed demostration. In his joy, this newly healed one might have forgotten all about the pallet, which he no longer needed; or he might have considered that it could easily be carried home by the kind friends who had so patiently borne it when he was lying upon it. In the absorption of our own experiences we are apt to cause unnecessary work for others because we have forgotten or neglected to perform our simple duties. Jesus guarded against such heedless thinking; there was no room in his presence for traces or memorials of error.

But more important than the outward act was the mental change involved. Looking at this picture of the heretofore helpless one stooping and taking up that upon which he had lain, we are reminded of two ideas which are repeatedly emphasized in the teaching of Jesus and in our authorized Christian Science literature: that of reversal, and that of lifting up. In every problem that comes to us for solution it is helpful to remember the counsel given by our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, on page 392 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "Reverse the case. Stand porter at the door of thought."

How can we "reverse the case" when the conditions which seemingly weigh us down are not our own, but those of others; when we are burdened with fear concerning friends who seem to be sick or in trouble, and who perhaps have no interest in Christian Science, or with a sense of anxiety because of problems such as unemployment, lack, and discord? To one student these questions seemed hard to answer, and presented themselves in many ways. A time came when she was overborne by a sense of helplessness, as if she had lain down upon a bed of mental suffering, passively prostrate in the acceptance of material laws and beliefs with all their dark suggestions. Then came letters from other students of Christian Science, whose statements of the truth quickened the longing to awake and arise. Obtaining help from an experienced Christian Science practitioner, she began with renewed hope to reverse her own thinking, to affirm more earnestly the allness of God and the consequent unreality of error. The effort was lovingly made, and very soon there was manifest healing of many discordant conditions, while the presence of divine Love's radiance and power was realized in unlooked-for ways. She learned that the hours in which, as far as the problems of others are concerned, we apparently have but to look on, may be blessed by right activity and resultant opportunity if we allow divine Love to empower us to "reverse the case" in our own thinking.

So closely do Mrs. Eddy's teachings follow the truth that as we come nearer to them we invariably find that we have also come nearer to the spirit of Christ Jesus' ministry. Pondering this idea of reversal, we may notice that Jesus never held up as an example to his followers the picture of a sufferer passively enduring a cross. His command was, "Take up the cross"—take it up and bear it. Nor, if we follow the Way-shower, should the bearing of our cross be regarded as a sorrowful pilgrimage; for, as Mrs. Eddy says in the concluding words of "An Allegory" in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 328), "Then, loving God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself, thou wilt safely bear thy cross up to the throne of everlasting glory."

Jesus never ignored human need and sorrow, but his compassionate tenderness manifested itself in strength, not in weakness. This strength he gained, not suddenly, at the moment when manifestations of human want and woe confronted him, but in the solitary hours of his communion with his Father. When seeming gloom in our environment tempts us to indulge in mortal thinking,—to lie down, so to speak, under a weight of discord or falsely to bear a cross in mere contemplative sympathy,—let us mentally be up and doing! The secret of all true helpfulness lies in obedience to God, who is "our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Spiritual understanding, always uplifting, commands, "Take up thy bed"! "Take up the cross"! "Reverse the case"!

It is Love that heals, not human argument or criticism; and with regard to others we cannot be too tenderly and humbly watchful of our thoughts. It is not for us to pass judgment on seemingly delayed demonstration, nor on the apparent absence in another of "moral uprising" (Science and Health, p. 363), which, though we fail to discern it, may actually be taking place.

The grateful testimonies appearing in The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel record countless instances when to uplifted thinking some seeming burden ceased to be a burden, and the cross, borne in God-derived strength, was lightened. Every testimony is an added proof that the Father has not left His children helpless, useless, or alone. "Thy Love and Truth are everywhere," a loved hymn declares.

Let us affirm this fact for ourselves, for our dear ones, near or far away, and for all the world. When we feel inactive, discouraged, or remorseful, let us mentally claim our birthright, knowing that error has no place in God's universe, and that in reality Truth has already and eternally established harmony. Surely it is the will of God that we may be counted "worthy of this calling," and that there may be fulfilled in us "all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power."