Simplicity

[Written Especially for Young People]

JESSIE LOUISE SALLS

If in our schoolwork one subject seems to stand out as "our poor subject," let us remember that it is our thinking about it that is making the subject seem difficult. Some other pupil may think that same subject is his or her "good subject." The fact is that whatever the subject, be it arithmetic, geography, or history, it can always be understood through the intelligence which is our gift from God.

Christian Science teaches us that God is Mind. One of the qualities which we especially need every day, and which we always have at our command, is the one called intelligence. It is like light, which illumines whatever it shines upon. Our task is to use intelligence so that it shines upon the task we have to perform.

If you have to walk through the woods at night it is easy to find the path and keep to it, if you carry a flashlight and follow its guidance. The Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, shines with a clear light upon the pages of the Bible and shows us its spiritual meaning, so that the truth it reveals directs our lives and becomes our teacher and guide.

We go to the Christian Science Sunday School in order to gain a better knowledge of God, for God is our Life; and we shall live truly successfully only as we understand God and follow His guidance through that patch of woods which we may call mortal experience.

There is no mystery in Christian Science, unless we consider the fact of there being spiritual light a mystery. When we are in a darkened room, we may think that the darkness is mysterious, but when the light illumines the room all the mystery vanishes. We see what is there.

All the complexity of our school subjects is due to ignorance alone. The tasks themselves are simple. The only confusion there seems to be is in lack of understanding. To follow the woodland path is simple except when we sometimes fear that we shall not see the path. But the light we carry corrects that fear, and brings assurance. The demonstration of Christian Science is simple, unless we let ignorance and fear make it seem complex. We can begin to use this Science when we know only one fact; and one fact of Trust applied to any situation brings the proof that the method is reliable. It works.

Let us suppose that all we know of God is what we first learned in Sunday school, namely, that "God is love." If we are sure of this fact, that at every opportunity we shall act in a loving manner, without selfishness, and with true humility. We are expressing God when we show love. God, Love, manifested in love, heals mankind. Someone is made happier, more useful, each time love is expressed. If one is ill, he may receive his healing just through your knowing that God is Love, and that Love heals. So you see, what we need to do is to live and think just as simply and truly as possible, to keep our joy fresh and spontaneous, so that all may see the beautiful gift of God's healing presence. Then the work is simple and the results are quick and direct.

On page 237 of the textbook Mrs. Eddy tells this story: "A little girl, who had occasionally listened to my explanations, badly wounded her finger. She seemed not to notice it. On being questioned about it she seemed 'There is no sensation in matter.' Bounding off with laughing eyes, she presently added, 'Mamma, my finger is not a bit sore.'" In this illustration Mrs. Eddy shows the simplicity of the truth and how readily children apply it. She also gives some good advice to parents on the same page, where we read, "Children should be taught the Truth-cure, Christian Science, among their first lessons, and kept from discussing or entertaining theories or thoughts about sickness." And she adds, "This makes Christian Science early available."

Parents and children work together in Christian Science and are a great help to one another. Our Father-Mother God helps all, whether they are called parents, or sons and daughters. All, in their real being, are the children of God.

In the twenty-third Psalm we read, "The Lord is my shepherd." Mrs. Eddy has given us the spiritual sense of these words as follows: "[Divine love] is my shepherd" (Science and Health, p. 578). This shows us how God protects us. God is divine Love, and Love is what takes care of us all—just as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. We are His lambs, and because we are His lambs we can be happy and always sure of Love's protection.

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