Be a Christian Soldier!

[Of Special Interest to Children]

MARY M. ANDERSON

Marsha was in the sixth grade at school. One night as she was preparing for bed, she discovered that she had a loose tooth. It was one of her baby teeth, and Marsha knew that when it came out, it would be replaced by a new one. However, when she awoke in the morning, Marsha was distressed to find that the tooth was painful to touch. She could hardly eat her breakfast.

This was the day Marsha was to play in a tetherball tournament at school, and she was very proud to have been picked as one of the two contestants. But now it seemed to her that she would not be able to go to school, and she began to cry as she sat at the kitchen table. "I don't want to go to school. I won't be able to eat my lunch," she said to her mother.

Now Marsha also attended the Christian Science Sunday School, and her mother said: "Marsha, wake up! Love is not telling you these unhappy things. Remember, you are really the image and likeness of God, good, and in that likeness there is no room for discord of any kind. Your real self cannot suffer. This is a glorious opportunity to prove this truth for yourself. You must be a good Christian soldier!"

Marsha stopped crying and listened to the familiar ring of these words of Truth. Then her mother said: "Marsha, don't you remember the hymn called 'Onward, Christian Soldiers'? Come, let's sing it together." Going to the piano, she turned to No. 264 in the Christian Science Hymnal, and they both began to sing the much-loved hymn which starts with these words:

Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See his banners go.

When they finished singing, Marsha's face was shining. "I like that hymn," she said.

Then her mother said: "You remember that Jesus told his followers that the shepherd 'calleth his own sheep by name.... And the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow ... for they know not the voice of strangers' (John 10:3-5). It is not the voice of the shepherd which tells you pain is real, Marsha; it is the voice of the stranger. Turn away from it. Keep your thoughts so filled with joy today that this false belief cannot enter."

Then she helped Marsha to put on her hat and coat, and Marsha ran to get her bus. As she waved good-by to her mother, she called, "I'll remember what you said about being a Christian soldier!"

That afternoon Marsha came home from school smiling. "Mother, we won the tournament." Then she said softly: "And I won my battle with error. Every time the tooth seemed to hurt, I remembered that Love is all-presence, and in that presence there is nothing that can make me afraid. And the tooth stopped bothering me."

Marsha's mother rejoiced with her. "Good for you! You are a Christian soldier! You see, Marsha, you have proved that God is everywhere and that there is no place where He is not."

That night the tooth came out easily, and Marsha went happily to bed. She had learned the truth of what Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 380), "Truth is always the victor."

Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.—Isaiah 55:12,13.

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