A Large oak tree on our front lawn daily reminds me that persistence is a natural concomitant of growth. All winter long most of the leaves on an oak tree, though withered, stay attached. Through strong wind, freezing snow, or bitter cold, they cling to the branches. The botanist calls them persistent leaves, as opposed to those that drop off in the fall. When spring comes, new growth actually appears to "push" the withered leaves off. Then, though unnoticeable at first, green leaves gradually unfold until the tree is in full leaf, larger in size than the previous year.

To persist does mean to persevere, but not impulsively or irregularly. Holding on steadily, sometimes even though with "trembling" (as do the leaves), is the kind of persistence implicit in spiritual growth.

The Christian disciple takes the demand for persistence beyond being merely a mental exercise. He understands that to "pray without ceasing" ^{I Thess. 5:17.} brings spiritual growth, and this kind of persistence has a direct impact on his everyday experience. It equips him with more confidence in facing daily challenges, and it results in healing. Mrs. Eddy—a faithful disciple of Christ—writes from her own experience when she says, "Success in life depends upon persistent effort, upon the improvement of moments more than upon any other one thing." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 230.}

At first glance, persistence may appear to be a human effort to hold on to our trust in God's goodness and control—like the effort a skier makes to hang on to a rope tow. He trusts the motor to pull him up the slope as long as he holds on. But spiritual persistence is more than this. It enables the Christian disciple to hold on, knowing that the power of God will bring the spiritual growth that inevitably results in healing.

We can be especially encouraged by what Christian Science teaches of God and of man's inherent relationship to Him. God is the only power; He is infinite good, and the nature of His goodness forever emanates from Him. God is Truth, self-existent and continuous. Man, as the image of God, reflects the divine nature in unlimited expression, form, and color. He exercises the abilities and capabilities with which his creator has endowed him.

Christian Science further brings to light the fact that spiritual progress and growth remain exclusively in the domain of universal, divine law. Growth, or continuous unfoldment, is an eternal, spiritual phenomenon, not a material process, and this understanding reassures us when material evidence to the contrary would disturb or frighten. In the light of this truth, persisting becomes a natural outcome of increased understanding.

The natural law governing oak leaves, then, hints the universal, spiritual law of God, which governs man. We can begin to grasp from nature's illustration that the continuous activity of true spiritual growth is native to man. Such illustrations can embolden us to persist even when it seems that little or no progress is being made on the human scene or that perhaps we are just holding the status quo. Although our steps forward may have to be moment by moment, that is enough. These steps begin in the smallest expressions of honesty, affection, and purity, and they bring real progress, for there is no better testing ground to prove our natural abilities and capabilities than the daily fabric of our lives. In Isaiah's words, "Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." ^{Isa. 28:10.}

Moment-by-moment persistence readies us for new unfoldment by quieting fear, renewing hope and inspiration, and building the confidence that helps us to drop false trusts and loosen old habits of thought.

To be sure, there are times when we need to persist more earnestly. Suppose that, in spite of our steadfast adherence to what we understand of the truth in Christian Science, the physical picture has not changed and we are tempted to believe we have gone as far as we can go. That may have been the way the disciples of Christ Jesus felt when they failed to heal an epileptic boy. ^{See Matt. 17:14–21 .} The father of the boy, however, persisted! He brought the boy to Jesus, who healed him. When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they very naturally asked him, "Why could not we cast him out?"

Jesus' answer included a rebuke—"Because of your unbelief"—yet it also set a timeless standard for deeper persistence: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

The effectiveness of this kind of persistence was illustrated in my own experience. I noticed that a small growth had appeared on my body. It did not cause me any discomfort at the time; yet it remained in the background of my thought as something I knew I would have to deal with at some point.

One afternoon, as I was praying to understand more clearly that man's true substance is spiritual, a passage from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, that I had been studying stood out with new meaning to me: "Perfection underlies reality. Without perfection, nothing is wholly real. All things will continue to disappear, until perfection appears and reality is reached." ^{Science and Health, p. 353.}

In that instant I saw the unreality of the abnormal growth, for it could not exist in the presence of perfection. The following weekend the growth began to cause discomfort. But I persisted in holding to that clear moment of truth when I saw that anything imperfect was untrue and must continue to disappear under the government of spiritual law. Throughout the weekend I clung to that revelation and its spiritual logic. One morning several days later as I was showering, to my great joy the growth was washed away.

So the question "How persistent can we be?" urges first of all better use of our moments. These moments stretch into longer periods as we hold our ground with spiritual courage, realizing more and more that persistence and unfoldment are inherent in our divine nature.

Science and Health affirms: "Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every statement, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way is pointed out; but self-denial, Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life." ^{Ibid., p. 462.}

The withered leaves of the oak that cling to their branches seem to glow in the winter sun. Even so, those moments in which we have clung to our trust in God's goodness and power, through difficult times, have a light that inspires us to persist until healing is evidenced.