In the twenty-first chapter of Genesis is a touching narrative which illustrates the receptivity of youth to spiritual truth. Here we read that Hagar and her son Ishmael, alone in the wilderness, were perishing with thirst. Hagar, in her great extremity, could do nothing but weep, and she turned her back to the child that she might not see him die. Undoubtedly before the separation the boy's father, Abraham, had done all he could to help both mother and child to turn expectantly to God in the trying ordeal which they were facing. But, as Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 236), "While age is halting between two opinions or battling with false beliefs, youth makes easy and rapid strides towards Truth."

So it would seem in this case that while the mother was battling with false beliefs and bowed down with grief, the boy's thought was closer to God, for we are told that "God heard the voice of the lad." After that, so the narrative continues, "The angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." Then the mother's eyes were opened, and she saw their need abundantly met. She saw a well of water. Thus, because the boy's thought was close to God, both mother and son were saved.

Occasionally a Sunday School teacher becomes troubled because a pupil who has been taught to rely on God in every need is required by parents who are not Christian Scientists to have medical attention in case of physical illness. Such situations need not operate as a deterrent to the pupil's spiritual progress if the pupil himself relies implicitly on Truth. In many cases the fidelity of the child has served to awaken the parents' thought to the effectiveness of the Sunday School teaching, and as a result the parents have become earnest students of Christian Science.

One such case is that of a five-year-old girl who was sent to the Christian Science Sunday School by her mother because the Christian Science church was across the street from her home and the child could be sent this short distance without someone to accompany her. The little girl quickly accepted the teaching and began at once to put into practice what she learned.

After she had been attending Sunday School a short while, an infection appeared on the thumb, which rapidly grew worse. When the child protested against the use of material remedies because she had learned in Sunday School to trust God in all things, she was permitted instead to have Christian Science treatment, and by the following morning the healing was complete.

Although the parents were greatly impressed, the father was unwilling to ask for Christian Science treatment when a few weeks later the child was taken ill with pneumonia. He therefore called the family doctor. However, it was explained to the child that although medical treatment is not compatible with Christian Science and Christian Scientists rely wholly on God for healing, it is expected that in filial obedience children will accept the method of treatment which their parents choose, knowing that the parents are giving them what they believe to be best. It was also pointed out to the child that she could continue to pray for herself as she had been taught to do in Sunday School, and inasmuch as her own allegiance to her Sunday School teaching was undivided, she could expect that her prayers would be effective.

After several weeks the parents became dissatisfied with medical treatment. They then dismissed the physician and turned to Christian Science for help. Again the child was healed overnight. The parents at once took up the study of Christian Science and from that time on adhered to its teachings. Here again, as in the time of Ishmael, God heard the voice of the child, and the angel of God appeared to the parents; their eyes were opened, and the entire family was blessed.

The home training of the pupil is not the responsibility of the Sunday School teacher; but it is the duty and privilege of the teacher so to instruct the child that he will learn to look to God in every need. One need never feel that a pupil is too young or too inexperienced in Christian Science to receive the benefit of the lessons, for our Leader assures us in Science and Health p. 152) that "Truth has a healing effect, even when not fully understood."

Once a child learns to turn to God in prayer and to rely radically on Him in times of need, the apathy or indifference of parents cannot prevent his spiritual progress. In many cases the grains of truth that a child has gathered from the Sunday School lessons have brought to a materialistic home that spiritual leaven which operates to the expanding of the entire loaf, with the result that soon the home environment has been changed from one of materialism to one of spiritual receptivity. In this way liquor and tobacco and other evils have been eliminated from the home, and mother, father, and child have progressed together in the understanding and demonstration of Christian Science.