Sunday, July 26th, 2026 Roundtable

To know there is but one God, one cause, one effect, one Mind, heals instantly. Have but one God, and your reflection of Him does the healing.

When Truth first comes to the consciousness of a mortal, it usually heals him physically. Then comes the demand to commence giving up material idols, and to digest, assimilate, and demonstrate Truth for himself. At this period the conscious and unconscious efforts of evil strive to obstruct, to continue the bondage, and to cause the individual to simply handle his new-found treasure, talk about it perhaps with fervor or emotion, but to go no further.

I advise you to do what you think is right, and never lose an opportunity of doing good. Ask wisdom of God and he will guide you.

from Collectanea, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 20 of the Addenda

43 — WATCH lest you believe that it is the denial of error that destroys it. To be sure, Mrs. Eddy tells us on page 339 of Science and Health (Science and Health, page 445 link) that we conquer error by denying its verity. But to conquer it does not destroy it, any more than to conquer a burglar puts him in jail. But it does stop his further depredations, and restrains him until the police come and take him away.

Our denials of the verity of error conquer it, but only our affirmations that let in the power of Truth destroy it. It is necessary to repeat that our denials do not heal or destroy error; but they put it under foot and make way for the healing efficacy of truth. Denying darkness does not let in the light; but it takes away one’s fear of it and bondage to it, thus opening the way for the light to come in.

500 Watching Points by Gilbert Carpenter

Golden Text: Hebrews 10 : 23
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

Faithful: Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of religion. Firmly adhering to duty; of true fidelity; loyal; constant (1828 Webster’s Dictionary)

In Miscellaneous Writings, on page 116, Mrs. Eddy writes the following:

“Obeying the divine Principle which you profess to understand and love, demonstrates Truth. Never absent from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God,—is obedience; being “faithful over a few things.” If in one instance obedience be lacking, you lose the scientific rule and its reward: namely, to be made “ruler over many things.”

Truth-Healing from Miscellaneous Writings Page 259-260

“The spiritual elevator of the human race, physically, morally, and Christianly, is the truism that Truth demonstrates good, and is natural; while error, or evil, is really non-existent, and must have produced its own illusion,—for it belongs not to nature nor to God. Truth is the power of God which heals the sick and the sinner, and is applicable to all the needs of man… Truth is supreme and omnipotent. Then whatever else seemeth to be intelligence or power is false, deluding reason and denying revelation, and seeking to dethrone Deity. The truth of Mind-healing uplifts mankind, by acknowledging pure Mind as absolute and entire, and that evil is naught, although it seems to be.

Pure Mind gives out an atmosphere that heals and saves. Words are not always the auxiliaries of Truth. The spirit, and not the letter, performs the vital functions of Truth and Love.”

From Our Exchanges

Rev. W. E. Orchard in The Christian Commonwealth, from the September 18, 1915 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

Faith is a widely influential process. It takes us down to the very center of ourselves. Faith is never difficult but infinitely simple, because faith is what we all believe deep down. It is covered up in most of us by false creeds, fear, and stale custom, but we can always break through these things if we will. You say that you believe that nothing but force is now of any avail. You do not really believe it. That is simply the self-hypnotism of people obsessed by fear. Faith is thinking through your delusions until you come to the core of truth. Deal with yourself on your knees before God. Find out what you really believe, for since man is one we must all believe alike when we get down to the foundations. Fight the good fight of faith first of all in your own heart. Never mind what you think is practical or what you feel you can keep faithful to. Get to the truth of your deepest trust; accept the truth; and leave it to work out its own power. It is the fear and self-delusion in the hearts of those who profess the Christian faith which is keeping the world chained to this fatalistic damnation. The gaining of faith for yourself will liberate faith in others.

Within Bible pages she had found all the divine Science she preaches; noticing, all along the way of her researches therein, that whenever her thoughts had wandered into the bypaths of ancient philosophies or pagan literatures, her spiritual insight had been darkened thereby, till she was God-driven back to the inspired pages. Early training, through the misinterpretation of the Word, had been the underlying cause of the long years of invalidism she endured before Truth dawned upon her understanding, through right interpretation. With the understanding of Scripture-meanings, had come physical rejuvenation. The uplifting of spirit was the upbuilding of the body.

She affirmed that the Scriptures cannot properly be interpreted in a literal way. The truths they teach must be spiritually discerned, before their message can be borne fully to our minds and hearts.

from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 169

from DEPTHS OF TRUTH in 1963 Association Address by Herbert Rieke

Some years ago I was confronted with a rather serious problem. I declared over and over again that God, good, was all-powerful, and ever-present, and that evil therefore was powerless and nowhere. But harmony did not seem to be manifested. I stopped my repetition of words and asked myself, “Do you really believe that God is so all-powerful and ever-present that evil has no power anywhere at any time?

After making an honest examination of my thinking I found that I was far from realizing the great truth. Instead of becoming discouraged however, I acknowledged that a thorough housecleaning was needed. I asked over and over again, “Do you believe God is so everywhere present that sickness, sin, and lack are nowhere with anyone at any time?” I looked out of my office window, over a troubled world and sighed, “It’s difficult.” The material senses argued that evil was present and powerful. It was easy enough to say just words, but to realize the truth with all one’s heart and soul and mind was quite different. I discovered that it took radical reliance on Truth to be a real Christian Scientist.

Material sense did not give me the correct answer. And so, I turned whole-heartedly through spiritual sense to God. I asked the above questions many times without answering outright. Each time I turned from the material mirage to spiritual reality. It became easier and easier. Finally, the testimony of spiritual sense was so overwhelming and predominate in my thinking that I could answer with a feeling of positiveness, “Lord I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.” To my great joy I found a wonderful sense of harmony reigning where discord had seemed to be. You see I was probing deep into eternal Truth, instead of being satisfied with just the outward appearance of things.

At another time early in my experience I found my thought becoming somewhat clouded. I prayed, but my prayers seemed empty to me. While reading in the book of Hebrews I came upon the passage, “He that cometh to God must believe that he is.” I closed the book and asked myself, “Do you really believe that God is? You talk about God, read about Him — but how real is He to you? Is He as real as this chair, or the table, or the electric light? Is He as real as your mother?” I began to ponder carefully this last question. I was very certain of the existence of my mother. I talked to her, and she listened to me. I knew I could call her up on the telephone and ask her to do anything for my welfare, and she would be very happy to do it. No one could bring any doubt into my thinking as to the nature and existence of my mother. I asked myself, “Am I just as certain of the existence and love of God?” I was surprised to find that my sense of God’s existence was rather nebulous. I could see that if I was going to be a Christian Scientist I must deal with God as a great reality in my life, and not as just a vague theory or ideal abstraction.

I proceeded to talk to God as my nearest and dearest friend. I unburdened myself and asked for help and inspiration. In a few minutes I found myself realizing that I must be more unselfish about a certain matter, and should be more conscientious in my study and work; that I must be more patient and kind. Suddenly I realized that thereby God was talking to me in terms that could not be mistaken. I heeded this divine advice and soon found myself entertaining an entirely new, alert, and happy sense of things.

What is real to you? Platitudinous words about the omni-presence and the omnipotence of God is not enough. There must be deep convictions. Mrs. Eddy said of Jesus’ prayers that they were “deep and conscientious protests of Truth, — of man’s likeness to God and man’s unity with Truth and Love.” (S&H 12:13). She also tells us that we should “Plead with an honest conviction of truth and a clear perception of the unchanging, unerring, and certain effect of divine Science. Then, if your fidelity is half equal to the truth of your plea, you will heal the sick.” (S&H 418:7)

I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results.

from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 250

Responsive Reading: Lamentations 3 : 22-26 • Luke 16 : 10
22. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.

The Father of the Prodigal Son by Ida Nelson Lockwood

from the August 3, 1929 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

The parable of the prodigal son, “the pearl of parables,” abounds in valuable lessons applicable at all times to the experiences incident to the precious human relationship of parent and child. At no period, probably, has this relationship presented more problems than in our own time. Never have parents more truly needed the helpful lessons this parable affords. Much has been said and written in the effort to draw from it helpful lessons for the wayward child; but perhaps the attitude of the father in the parable has not always been sufficiently emphasized as affording the highest guidance for parents who may be called upon to face such a situation in some milder form.

Jesus, no doubt, had in thought our heavenly Father, and desired to illustrate His enduring loving-kindness toward all of His children; and since the real man exists as the image and likeness of God, the proper attitude for mankind to seek to hold under all circumstances must be that of Godlikeness. Then, any human parent who faces such an experience may well approach the study of this parable with deepest humility and learn from it the perfect method for working out the problem.

In such human experiences it is not unusual for the parent to suffer far more keenly than does the child. Not until the child reaches the extremity of prodigality does his anguish begin to equal that of his parents. In the parable, however, Jesus does not draw such a picture. Here we find the father patiently permitting the son to choose his own course and learn for himself that good can never be found in evil. Then we find him tenderly expecting and awaiting the return of the wayward one. There is no note of disappointment, anger, resentment, hardness, or despair on the part of the father. Here one may say, You are asking the impossible when expecting a parent to maintain such a poise while seeing a child wasting his opportunities, his money, and even his health, recklessly disregarding the consequences.

The important point is that our heavenly Father never beholds His children as prodigal; and so, when one tires of thinking of himself in this light and desires to return to his true state, the readjustment is wholly with the child. To the perfect sense of the Father, the son has always walked in “the paths of righteousness.” The teaching of Christian Science brings to an earthly parent this understanding of true existence, enabling him to see that the waywardness is simply an unreal dream expressing the belief in an evil mind capable of experiencing pleasure in, and through, materiality. The awakening from this daydream is just as certain as is the awakening from a sleeping dream; and the readjustment may be, and should be, just as simple as in the case of the sleeping dream.

What, then, of the wasted substance, the immeasurable loss, that apparently accompanies such an experience? When the prodigal worked his way out of the suffering that inevitably results from partaking of the husks of materiality, his supply of good was just as abundant as before. All the teaching of Scripture is plain on this point. “But if the wicked will turn from all his sins . . . and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live.” Truly, when one is touched by the Christ, Truth, which opens one’s eyes to man’s true nature, the Godlikeness from which he cannot depart, one begins at once to enter into life “more abundantly,” even as Jesus promised. The result is the same, whether one has ignorantly or wickedly wandered from this true sense of life, and whether the wandering has been for a longer or a shorter period. In either case the impoverished state is wholly a mental condition which yields to the true sense of Life as God, made manifest in holiness, harmony, and abundance of good.

This parable reveals that it is not inevitable that the father suffer with the child; moreover, it implies that the attitude of the father is instrumental in bringing the child back to a wholesome state of right thinking. To ask a human parent to admit that his own harmony is not dependent upon the well-being of his children may seem to be asking too much; and yet this must be the first step in the solution of such a problem. Is it not this subtle idolatry which mortal mind brings into all of our human relationships that makes for bitterness where there should be only sweetness, for bondage and restriction where there should be true freedom and spontaneity?

The parent needs to learn the true sense of Life as God, in whom all good is found to be permanent, inexhaustible, and indestructible, coming from unchanging divine Principle. Without this knowledge, the parent himself is in some degree a prodigal. To be wasteful is to be prodigal. Was not the so-called exemplary son, who had remained at home, rebuked by the wise father for his failure to recognize and to use God’s gifts of unselfishness, patience, tenderness, forgiveness, and compassion? To be barren of the qualities of divine Love, unmindful and wasteful of the gracious opportunities for reflecting the divine nature, is to be a cheerless prodigal; for, as Mrs. Eddy declares in her poem “Love” (Poems, p. 7), “Love alone is Life.”

We cannot always immediately and entirely heal a situation that involves another, but we can and should always master it in so far as it claims to disturb our own harmony. It is possible for the parent who is solving this problem to relieve the waiting period of much of its anxiety and anguish if he will grasp it as an opportunity to prove that his joy, peace, hope, and courage are of God, and so cannot be taken from him by any person, circumstance, or condition. Through his own demonstration he will thus come to appreciate these familiar words of Scripture: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning.”

How can any individual have consumed in past years the good that God holds in store with which to meet every need of to-day? Growing in this knowledge that holiness, health, and abundance of good are spiritual, and are daily renewed by the infinite omnipresent intelligence that gives and maintains life, the parent will lessen his own suffering, and will be in a position to render the best service to the child in teaching him, by precept and example, that substance is not in matter to be wasted. Thus God may be glorified throughout the most trying experience.

May all parents who are grappling with this problem, through a systematic study and application of the simple scientific truths taught in this parable, acquire an understanding of God’s abundant and loving care and protection that will enable them with joyous confidence to make daily use of the “Mother’s Evening Prayer” (Poems, pp. 4, 5) given to us by our faithful Leader. Only a mother who had endured and overcome the fears, sorrows, and anxieties that mortal mind attaches to parenthood could have given to the world so comprehensive a prayer, flawless in its humility, and yet so gloriously triumphant.

To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin. Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being.

from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 6

Some people try to tend folks, as if they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes us pay for tending the action that He adjusts.

from Miscellaneous Writings, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 353

Waiting Time by Grace M. Putnam

from the August 12, 1922 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

It is sometimes said that the hardest thing a person is ever called upon to do is to wait. I well remember an experience I had the first time I turned to Christian Science for help. The healing was almost instantaneous. My joy over this quick proof of the efficacy of Christian Science was so great that I wanted to tell my family all about it; but one minor discordant condition seemed to remain, and I dreaded their criticism. I thought that I could soon get rid of this; but it lingered, until, impatient at my slowness in overcoming it, I called up a practitioner and asked why the complete healing seemed to be delayed. The practitioner’s only answer was, “Read Lamentations, third chapter, twenty-sixth verse,—’It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.'” Needless to say, the difficulty disappeared, as soon as I saw that it was a picture of my own impatience. From that day to this I have been studying to understand more fully what it means to “both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord;” and I have seen, as I studied, that, although there may seem to be many ways of waiting, there is only one right way. For example: there is the waiting which is simply idleness,—doing nothing, thinking nothing; there is the waiting which runs around trying to imagine itself occupied, but which in reality is not accomplishing anything; and then, again, there is the right waiting, which improves every moment in useful thinking and acting.

Our Leader says in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 22): “‘Work out your own salvation,’ is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. ‘Occupy till I come!’ Wait for your reward, and ‘be not weary in well doing.'” The wise Christian Scientist is neither doing some one else’s work, nor neglecting his own. He is studying Christian Science, qualifying himself to hear the “still small voice” of the divine guide,—Principle. Neither is he harking back to past mistakes, nor prophesying as to the future. He realizes that the first four letters of the word “mistake” show the nature of it,—that it is a mist-step. He sees that when error has caught him napping, and has put him on the wrong track, if he wakes to see his mistake he has a right to know that God, divine Principle, stands ever ready to lead the honest, repentant thought back to the right way. He knows that he does not have to stay in the mist.

The Christian Scientist also realizes the futility of prophesying about that which is utterly and entirely in the hands of omniscience. He realizes that while he is absorbed in contemplation of the past, or lost in dreamy plans for the future, the “now” is likely to glide in unheard and unseen; and he may lose that opportunity for quick transit to the solution of his present problem. So he takes the waiting time for work, that he may not be asleep when he should be awake, and overactive when he should “be still, and know.” Demonstrations that are more important and far-reaching than we can at the moment perceive are often made in the waiting time. We realize this when, material stress and the seeming collisions with materiality having confronted us, we see how much more easily we conquer fear, and how much better we work in every way because of what has been accomplished during the waiting time. Jesus said to his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, “Tarry ye here, and watch.” The command still holds good. While we tarry we must watch. The disciples slept, and paid dearly for their disobedience.

The dictionary gives this definition of the word “wait”: “To watch, to stay in expectation.” And what is that but to hope and quietly wait? An added definition is, “To serve.” “Waiting,” in Christian Science, loses all suggestion of idleness or just “killing time,” and means, instead, a probationary period in which one may study to know more of Principle; and it means, further, an opportunity to have a mental house-cleaning to find out what one is holding in consciousness that would hinder demonstration from being instantaneous. We realize that just as the rest in music is quite as important to the harmony as is the note, so the waiting time is just as necessary in our lives as the so-called active time, provided we use it intelligently. It is a trial of our obedience, to prove us. He who knows how to wait scientifically, knows how to serve. Jesus, the supremely obedient one, gave us a sublime example of intelligent waiting in his three days in the tomb, proving for all the powerlessness of the belief of death to destroy Life.

The apostle James says: “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” Let us, then, persistently, humbly, intelligently work, “watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus” (Science and Health, p. 497), while we “both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

Slothfulness, often synonymous with laziness or idleness, is a state of spiritual and physical inactivity that is… characterized by a lack of diligence, motivation, and responsibility, leading to neglect of one’s duties and obligations that God has given you.

From the Topical Encyclopedia on Bible Hub

Gilbert C. Carpenter and Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr. by Ralph B. Spencer

Most everyone who knew the Carpenters and knew what they stood for felt the loving sincerity of their thought. When malicious gossip was occasionally voiced, they would listen politely but would soon begin to unfold the impersonal nature of error and show how an individual, even though crroneously influenced, would rise up and express the good and the truc if the cloud of mesmerism were removed from him.

In the local church activities of the Carpenters, Gilbert Jr. was considcred a very fine Reader and a very alert and effective Committee on Publication for Rhode Island. His father was considered a fine soloist and an excellent reader, serving as First Reader for seven years just prior to Mrs. Eddy’s insertion of the three year clause into the Manual. Some spoke of attending Wednesday evening meetings to hear those wonderful testimonies from the “voice in the balcony.” Mr. Carpenter, Sr. frequently gave beautiful, healing testimonies from the balcony which inspired or healed many listeners, and there were some who never knew whose voice it was.One newcomer to Christian Science was taken severely night. When asked what doctor or practitioner she wanted, she replied that she wanted that man with the voice from the balcony. Her daughter knew who it was and called Mr. Carpenter, and in a few minutes she was completely healed.

Gilbert c. Carpenter, Jr. and his father Mr. Carpenter Sr. received his C.S.B. from Mrs. Eddy herself in 1906.

When Mrs. Eddy released Mr. Carpenter at the end of one year’s service in her home at Pleasant View as an assistant secretary, she said to him, “Gilbert, you have not committed a single moral offense.” This, together with other remarks, showed her great appreciation of his thought and services rendered. Mrs. Eddy never indulged in flattery, and compliments came forth only when earned.

As to teaching, Mr. Carpenter never exercised his right to conduct class teaching. The mis-information that he did teach stems partly from the fact that many individuals visited the Carpenter home and some visited at the time of the morning lessons, as they were sometimes called. Actually, they were not lessons but were talks by Mr. Carpenter occurring usually from 8:30 to 10:00. And what were thesc talks? They originated in the late twenties, not deliberately nor at any particular time but spontaneously from time to time as the Spirit moved, so to speak.

It was only natural that one who had served in Mrs. Eddy’s home and had heard her expound the Truth so helpfully each morning to her household should eventually reach the point where he too would feel impelled to set forth the spirit of Truth to anyone who might be interested and receptive. Mr. Carpenter seldom invited anyone for this purpose but if individuals felt spiritually led to come, he was glad to fill their need and inspire them to better healing work.

About this same time, Gilbert Jr. began to receive memoirs and other material from students and workers who had served in Mrs. Eddy’s home. Many such individuals knew Gilbert through his father who had been close to the Board of Directors and other early workers in Concord and Boston. Also, a request had gone out about this time from the Board of Directors to the field for reminiscences and other material pertaining to our Leader. Mr. Carpenter thought this a fine opportunity to bring forth more information about our Leader, and hoped that The Mother Church would be able to use the material to enlighten the field further as to our Leader, not merely as a fine Christian woman but as the voice of Truth to this age and the finest demonstrator of that Truth since the time of Jesus.

Because of this attitude, it was only natural that Mr. Carpenter should be stimulated by the call for this material toward voicing his own memorics of our Leader logether with spiritual unfoldments concerning her work and her methods. It must be remembered that none of the biographies concerning Mrs. Eddy were written by anyone associated with her, with the exception of Mr. Tomlinson`s Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy. Gilbert began to take down his father’s talks in long hand, then learned Speedwriting, and later realized that he could take down the matcrial in Speedwriting on his typewriter as fast as his father could talk. One reason for starting these morning talks was the misinformation going around the field at that time pertaining to Mrs. Eddy. These criticisms might have been dismissed peremptorily except for the fact that some of them originated with several who had lived in Mrs. Eddy’s home.

Mr. Carpenter felt that these criticisms were unjust and showed a lack of spiritual growth and comprehension on the part of the student; that the student or worker had not advanced sufficiently to understand the nature of the error attacking the Leader of a great religious movement, nor the measures required for neutralizing such error. One such individual was Ada Still who served as a maid in Mrs. Eddy’s home. She later became friendly with the Carpenters and when she heard Mr. Carpenter unfold in one of his talks the nature of the error which was trying to interfere with Mrs. Eddy’s acitivity and how Mrs. Eddy was working to clear away the interference so that all could work more effectively, she understood the conflict, was very grateful for the unfoldment, and never again was guilty of innocent tale-bearing regarding our Leader and her struggles to successfully finish the work God had given her to do. The lady always remained a staunch friend of the Carpenters.

In this connection it is helpful to remember that our Leader used her home as a training ground. Many practitioners and teachers doing beautiful work in the field were called to her home for one to three years and sometimes more. No wonder she wrote (My:229) **It is true that loyal Christian Scientists, called to the home of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, can acquire in one year the Science that otherwise might cost them a half century.”

[Mr. Spencer was a student of Gilbert C. Carpenter. Jr. and listened to many of the morning talks of Mr. Carpenter. Sr. He also served as caretaker. treasurer and director of The Carpenter Foundation for eight ycars, resigning the year after Mr. Carpenter’s passing.]

As found in The Independent Christian Scientist by Doris Grekel

The True Fisherman and the God-filled Net by Grace M. Putnam

from the March 31, 1923 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel

TO his first disciples Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men;” and they left all and followed him. In the years that ensued, years of marvelous unfoldment and rich experience, they learned something of what it meant to be fishers of men. They saw the sick healed, the sinner reformed, the dead raised, the elements controlled, the multitudes fed through the power of the divine Word; and yet, so densely material was the thought of that period that at first they failed to grasp the great truth underlying all the Master’s work. Personality was one of the weakest strands in the disciples’ nets; and not until, having toiled all night with no success, they heard the loving advice, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find,” did they wake to the true significance of the Master’s teaching. Their eyes were then opened to see that seeking “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” is casting the net on the right side; and that “all these things shall be added unto you” was illustrated by the full net.

Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says in our textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 271), “Those, who are willing to leave their nets or to cast them on the right side for Truth, have the opportunity now, as aforetime, to learn and to practise Christian healing.” As with the disciples of old, so now, humility and obedience must be the first steps. Are we willing to leave all to follow Christ, Truth,—all our self-will and human planning, our sense of personal accomplishment of leadership, our worship of money and what it seems to bring of merely material comfort, our pride in intellectuality or heredity? These are some of the strands that make our nets weak. Let us turn to the Master for guidance. With wonder at his humility we read, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” To the one who would have bowed to his personality Jesus said, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” He pointed out the purity and receptiveness of the child-thought as the requisite for spiritual understanding, and the necessity of denying the demands of matter, if we would follow him and become fishers of men.

With humble, obedient thought, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, prepared her net for her work as a fisherman. She saw to it that it was woven together with the cords of divine intelligence and wisdom, and unselfed love. Then she cast her net forth, and left it for God to fill, well knowing that it would gather in all who were struggling in the tempestuous waters of sin, sickness, sorrow, discouragement, fear, or lack, and bring them back safely to the shore,—to the feet of the Christ.

We who would follow in our Leader’s footsteps must learn, as did she, to be brave as well as humble. Like Peter, we must all launch out into the deep waters, and anchor; cast our net there, and leave it. The temptation often comes to pull it up to see how much has been accomplished, instead of knowing that God never fails to do His work. The true fisherman is a marvel of patience. He has learned that “it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

Perhaps we feel sometimes as though we had anchored in the wrong place, when confusion, like a fog, seems to settle down around us. Then we have to know that fog and mist, confusion, fear, and ignorance belong not to God’s man, who is never for one instant outside “the focal distance of infinity” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 79). We may encounter the storms of antagonism and hate; and so real they may seem that we may cry out, “Lord, save us: we perish.” But we must remember that when Christ entered the ship on the lake, the wind ceased; and we must try to gain that sweet sense of the ever present Christ which quiets all fear, with its gentle, “Peace, be still.”

Persistence and perseverance are qualities possessed by the true fisherman, and are alone worthy to win the prize: persistence that refuses to drift with the tide, but works with anchor thrown out, until by unmistakable signs he gets the command to move on; perseverance that keeps on, in spite of difficulties and seeming defeat, in spite of cold disdain or possible hate, loving more, working harder, in order to learn the lesson these experiences are sure to teach. Having done our part aright thus far, we may still have to learn the lesson of silence. The Master sometimes said, “See thou tell no man.” He saw the unwisdom of drawing the criticism of antagonistic thought on the work just accomplished, and stirring up undesirable opponents. We may become discouraged at what seems lack of success, or we may become self-complacent at what appears like a great accomplishment. In either case, it behooves us to examine our net very carefully, and to replace the strand of personality with unselfishness. The thought that says we as persons have or have not done something, must be cast out. If we neglect to get rid of that pernicious strand, we shall soon find ourselves toiling through the night without success; find that our net is broken because of its weak strand, and we have lost our fishes!

Mrs. Eddy puts it beautifully in “Miscellaneous Writings” (p. 111), where she says: “Faithfully, as meekly, you have toiled all night; and at break of day caught much. At times, your net has been so full that it broke: human pride, creeping into its meshes, extended it beyond safe expansion; then, losing hold of divine Love, you lost your fishes, and possibly blamed others more than yourself. But those whom God makes ‘fishers of men’ will not pull for the shore; like Peter, they launch into the depths, cast their nets on the right side, compensate loss, and gain a higher sense of the true idea. Nothing is lost that God gives: had He filled the net, it would not have broken.”

Let us realize that our business is always the Father’s. Jesus, by teaching and illustration, showed us the way; and our Leader has given us rules in the Christian Science text-book and the Church Manual, which, if we follow them, will enable us to work intelligently and well. We cannot with safety vary a hair’s breadth from these rules, if we would not toil all night without success. If we are good fishermen, there will be the right profit; there will be the manifestation of our understanding of and our obedience to the command, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.”