It was not long before his mother had finished her work. She then said,"Come, Walter, I am ready now to go to the library."
They both entered and found Mr. Williams waiting for them with the Bible open in his hand. He looked up at them as soon as they appeared and said, "I suppose the great question before the class to-night is to decide whether there are one or two creations chronicled in the Bible; and if there are two, which one is the real. Have you arrived at any conclusion in regard to this point, Walter?"
"Yes, father, I have. It seems very plain to me now, and if you will allow me, I shall be pleased to give my views regarding these two creations."
This was just what the pastor wanted. He wished Walter to speak first, to see what conclusions the boy had arrived at, before he expressed his own opinion, so he readily gave his consent and said, "Speak your mind freely, son, and if I cannot agree with you on all points, we will take up those points afterwards and discuss them."
Walter now had the privilege he wanted, but he felt he must be careful not to say too much for fear of awakening his father's suspicion; so he quietly opened the Bible he had brought with him, and read aloud, Genesis 2, 7th verse, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." As he finished reading this verse, he looked at his father and said, "You will notice, father, that the Bible says, 'theLord God' formed this dust man, and this is not the same God that created man in his image and likeness. You will also notice that in the first narrative it simply speaks of God creating everything, and in the second narrative it always speaks of theLord Godas having made everything and—"
"Wait, Walter," said the pastor hurriedly. He had intended to let Walter say everything he had to say on the subject, but he could not think of allowing his son to bring out the theory that there were two Gods, as this would be worse than the thought of two creations. "You surely are not trying to bring forth the theory that there are two Gods, two supreme powers. I cannot possibly allow you to advance such a thought even in theory, for that would be pantheism."
"Please, father, let me finish my explanation. I have no intention of bringing forth a theory upholding two supreme powers, but I desire to show that we are now believing in two supreme powers, and that only one is true and real. Will you please look at the verse I have just read? Notice that it uses the words,Lord God, and you will find that this form is used almost all of the way through this second narrative. Now look at the first chapter of Genesis; you will notice that it never speaks of theLord God, but simply of God."
The pastor had caught the meaning of what Walter had said, and was now diligently reading first a verse in chapter 1, Genesis, then a corresponding verse in chapter 2.
Walter's mother had quietly risen, gone to the bookcase, secured a Bible and was also comparing one with the other. At length the pastor looked up at Walter with a surprised and confused look, and said, "What you say is true, Walter, and I must admit I never noticed this before, but I cannot see that it changes the narratives any. The author or writer simply changed the name he employed to designate Deity, that is all. Still I cannot understand what his reason could have been for making the change. It is also remarkable that the change should take place just at the time it does, at the beginning of the second narrative."
"It does seem strange that such a change should be made, if it was not done for a purpose," said Mrs. Williams.
"I believe I can explain why the change was made," said Walter.
"Very well, Walter," said the pastor, "let us hear your explanation."
"Well, father, as I understand it, the first creation is real, it being the work of God. Then the Bible speaks of thatmistor misapprehension that arose, and the story told in the second narrative is this misapprehension. Therefore, I should judge thatLord Godwould mean a man-conceived God; and man, through misapprehending the real character and nature of Deity, believes the earth and man were created according to the second narrative, which would agree with all our present ideas. I mean by this that we all think and believe that God made man materially out of the dust of the earth, while the first account says man was made in the image and likeness of God; and as God is Spirit, man must be spiritual; as a dust or material man cannot be that likeness, because matter is the opposite of spirit. Then again, everything that God made was good—and this dust man is more evil than good; and as God, who is conceded as being all good, made all, and pronounced all He made good, this dust or material man, being evil, was never made, but, through a misapprehension, we think man to be material, and believe him to be the real man. To illustrate what I mean, say some one told you a falsehood and you believed it to be the truth; then the lie would seem true to you. Nevertheless, because you believe this lie to be the truth, it would not make a truth of it, as it would be a lie still, regardless of your belief. In the same way theologists have made a mistake by thinking that this second creation is the real, and have taught all mankind that they originated from dust and must return to dust, and every one believes this; and because every one believes this mistake, it seems like the truth to all of us, but no matter how many believe a lie, it does not make a truth of it; and it is because of this false interpretation that all evil has come upon us, for in the real and spiritual creation there is no mention of evil. It is only after that mist or misapprehension arose that evil is mentioned. Oh, father, if my explanation is the truth, then God did not make evil, did not make sickness; and if He didn't make sickness, it was never made, for the Bible says, God made all that was made, then sickness is also a part of the misapprehension that arose, and is not real, does not exist, only in our mistaken thoughts. In other words, we have all been taking a lie for the truth, and the whole world has been taught this error, and through this mistake we thought it possible for evil to exist when we ought to have known that God could not have made evil, for there is no mention of sin, disease, or death in the first narrative, or real creation."
Walter stopped, his face all aglow with joy and happiness. He had risen to his feet while he was speaking and now he looked from father to mother, but he only saw perplexity written on their faces.
"Can't you see it, father? mother, didn't I make it plain? It seems so easy for me to understand it now; don't you see what it means to me? It means that I never was sick in reality, that I never need be sick in reality, that I am sick only in belief, that all any one need do to get well is to find out this truth, that sickness is only an illusion, a lie, which the truth will correct. This must be the truth that Jesus Christ spoke of when He said, Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Yes, it has made me free, for it has lifted this cloud of sickness and feebleness from my mind, and I feel perfectly well and strong."
Again he looked from one to the other of his parents, on his father's face he saw sorrow written, on his mother's fear.
Walter then turned his face upward, and said, "Oh, thou, God, who is all good, who never made evil or sickness, I thank thee for this great truth which thou hast revealed to me. I also desire that thou show this same truth to my father and mother, and I believe that thou wilt, for thy Son, Jesus Christ, hath said that whatever we desire when we pray, we should believe that we receive and we would receive; and I do believe that my desire will be granted, for Jesus Christ would not have said it if it were not true."
The Rev. Mr. Williams and his good wife were speechless. The words they had heard and the actions of Walter had caused the father to fear that his son's mind had given way; while the mother thought there was something supernatural about it all, and she felt half inclined to believe that what she had heard was the truth, and that this wisdom was given to her son from on high.
Now the pastor advanced to where Walter stood, looked at him inquiringly, laid his hand on his arm, and said, "Sit down, Walter, don't get excited about this question; we will all understand it better after a while." Then looking at his wife, he said, "Mother, don't you think we have had enough Bible lesson for this evening?"
His wife was surprised at the question, for she had not thought of Walter as being demented. She could not see why the pastor wished to discontinue the lesson, for they had only begun; but, ever ready to agree with her husband, she answered, "Just as you think, James."
Walter looked at his father for a moment, wondering what could be the matter, and as he thought of all he had said, it occured to him that his father must think he had lost his reason; this struck him as so ridiculous that he burst out laughing, more heartily than he had ever done in his life, for he felt better and more free than ever before. But his laughter only made matters worse as it confirmed his father's opinion in regard to his having lost his reason; and now the good man sadly shook his head, saying, "It is worse than I thought."
This only made Walter laugh the heartier.
The mother looked from her laughing son to her sorrowing husband, wondering what it all meant. At last she said, "James, what is worse than you thought?"
Before the pastor could answer, Walter said, "Mother, father thinks I have gone crazy, and this seemed so ridiculous to me that I could not control my laughter."
"Crazy!" ejaculated the mother, "did you think that, James?"
The pastor did not answer. He had supposed that no one but a demented person would say the things Walter had said, but it certainly was not the act of a demented person to guess what he had thought.
"Mother," said Walter, and there was still a healthy smile on his face, "now that I come to think of it, I do not wonder that father thought I had lost my reason, as it would be impossible for him to grasp this great truth as readily as you or I. To do so, he would have to unlearn in these few minutes all that he had ever learned regarding this false creation; with you and I, mother, it would be easier; we only believed, and belief is never absolute conviction, and can more readily be changed. I read a parable to-day that I think will explain what I mean. Jesus said, 'you cannot add any more to a cask already full.' So it is with father; his mind is filled so full of the present idea of God and this material creation, that there cannot enter anything different from this teaching, until some of the old is emptied out. I believe this emptying out process is what is meant by Jesus when He said, 'unless ye become as little children, you can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.' I take this to mean that we must put human opinion and prejudice aside, and have a free, open, and inquiring mind before this great truth can be understood by us."
"Walter," said his father rather sternly, "I think you have said enough on this question. Do you think it common sense for you to put yourself up as a greater authority as to what the Bible means than all the great men who have labored all their lives on the Bible? I do not wonder that I thought for a moment you had lost your reason, as I do not think any sane person would advance such a chimerical idea, and claim it to be the truth, as you have done. I see I have made a mistake in allowing you to question the Bible. Hereafter, I shall read from the Bible and explain it as we proceed, but I will not allow any more comments to be made. In regard to this question of creation, we will consider that closed for the present, and in the near future, probably next Sunday, I will preach a sermon on creation; and as you will undoubtedly both be there, you will see this question made plain. In the meantime I think we will discontinue the lesson, so as to give you a chance to study the Bible. I was not aware that you knew so little of what it contained, for you do not seem to grasp the simplest statements when I explain them to you."
Walter was very much astonished at the way his father had taken his explanation, and for a moment was sorry that he had said so much at one time; then he smiled as a happy thought struck him. If his father intended to deliver a thorough sermon on creation, he would be compelled to carefully study Genesis, and Walter believed enough had been said to make his father doubt the second narrative. He felt like saying, "I don't believe you will ever preach that sermon," but instead, he said, "Alright, father, I shall put considerable study on the Bible, as you wish and I am sorry if my explanation has offended you, yet I explained it just as it seemed to me."
"Never mind, Walter," said his mother, "we cannot all of us be as well versed on the Bible as your father, who has spent most of his life in the study of it."
"Would you suggest, father, that I continue to study Genesis from the place we left off?"
"Yes son," said the pastor more kindly, "start from where we left off this evening, and it might be well for you to review what we have passed over, so you will be able to fully understand my sermon when I deliver it."
After a few more commonplace remarks, Walter bade his father and mother good night, and ascended to his chamber, carrying his Bible with him.
As soon as Walter had left the room, the pastor turned to his wife and said, "I wonder what can have taken possession of that boy, he has changed wonderfully. Whereas he was always speaking of his sickness, and complaining of being weak, he now never refers to his trouble, nor does he complain of being tired any more. And what is more wonderful, he does not walk and act as if he was tired or weak; he also looks cheerful and his explanation was full of vim and courage, even though it was nonsense."
"I think, James, it is the work of that last medicine. He has begun to notice that he is getting better, and in his great enthusiasm he ascribes his healing to the goodness of God, and is very desirous of giving thanks for his recovery."
"That may be it," said the pastor, "yet I don't see any reason for his talking such nonsense. Some of his assertions are simply absurd; for instance, that assertion about his never having been sick in reality, and that there is no evil; haven't we had the best physicians in the country, and didn't they say he had hereditary consumption. That certainly ought to prove its reality. Besides, he has been gradually growing weaker and weaker under our very eyes."
"That is all true, James, yet I do not think all he said was nonsense. It seemed to me that when he was speaking he seemed to glow with a heavenly radiance, and while you thought he had lost his mind, I supposed he was inspired from on high."
The pastor sat bolt upright in his chair, and looked at his wife. If this thing kept up much longer he would be demented himself; what was the matter with his family? How could his wife take the nonsense of a boy for inspiration?
"Now, James, don't look at me that way; it does not seem so very incredible to me that God should have made everything good, and that the good alone is real, and that evil is unreal, but that we make a reality of it simply by thinking it real. I think that is what Walter was trying to make clear to us. To illustrate, if you should receive word this evening that your brother was killed in a railroad disaster, you would certainly feel sorrowful, and you would say you felt that way because your brother was killed. Now if in the morning your brother should step in the house perfectly well, your sorrow would flee. This would prove that your sorrow was not caused by the death of your brother, but simply because you believed him dead; so it was the belief that caused the sorrow, and not the deed itself." "I can agree with you in regard to your illustration, for it was the belief of my brother's death, and not his real death, as he did not die, that made me sorrowful. But the two cases are not parallel; in the one, nothing had happened, but in the other there is in reality a sick boy, and not simply the report of a sick boy."
"Can you not see, James, that if God never made sickness, and He made all there was made, that sickness could not be a reality? And we could not be sick in reality. Yet if we thought ourselves sick and believed what we thought, this would make it seem true to us, though in fact, it was not true. I believe it is just as Walter put it. If we believe a falsehood to be the truth, this falsehood, then, seems like the truth to us. But no matter how often, or how many, believe a lie to be the truth, it still in fact remains a lie."
"What you say about the lie, wife, is plain, but sickness is not a lie or a falsehood, it is only too real."
"James, if sin, sickness, and death are real, God must have made them, for the Bible says God made everything that was made and pronounced it all very good. It might be possible to stretch the imagination so as to say that sickness, or even death, might be good under certain conditions; but no Christian would agree with you that sin was good. And if we would agree that sickness and death were made by God and were good, then Jesus Christ destroyed the works of God, and at the same time destroyed something that was good."
"Oh, James, the more I think of Walter's explanation, the more reasonable it seems, and I cannot get the idea out of my mind that our boy was inspired when he made that explanation."
"Lillian, I will admit that never in my whole life have I been so confused on anything as I am in regard to these two narratives of creation. If we admit that the first is the real and was all that was made, whence came all this evil, sin, and sickness into the world, and how did I acquire this material body, and where did all these other material things come from? If we admit that the second creation is of God, then God, in a sense, would be responsible for all the trials and tribulations of man, for God is all-powerful and could have made us better, even to perfection. Now that I think of it, I don't believe the Bible mentions anywhere that God made evil. It speaks of the Lord God cursing the ground, but it does not accuse Him of making evil; and yet God should have made all. Can evil only be a lie, a dream, a delusion, a mistake or misapprehension, as Walter called it? What a state for a minister to be in; why, I believe I am questioning the truth of the Bible."
"No, James, I don't think you could properly call that questioning the Bible, you are simply seeking the truth, and I know that when you get into a calmer frame of mind you will readily find it; don't you think we had better retire for to-night? To-morrow you will have time to look up this entire matter."
"I suppose we had, as I see no way to satisfy myself except by carefully studying the whole book of Genesis, and I am very doubtful whether I will be able to find what I want even there, for I have often noticed that when a man once begins to doubt the truth of the Bible, he usually ends up as an unbeliever. God grant that this may not happen to me."
"O, I have no fear of that," said his wife; "you are too firm a believer in God to ever doubt anything in the Bible."
"I hope so, wife, yet I must admit that I am beginning to doubt the genuineness of the second narrative, and for the last fifteen years I have preached the gospel from the standpoint of this second or dust creation. In fact, I could not preach otherwise, as it would be impossible for me to make my congregation believe that they were wholly spiritual, and that they have no material body, had I desired."
"Why, James, of course we have a material body, don't we have to feed, clothe, and take care of it?"
"That is the way I always believed, but if Walter's idea is correct in regard to that mist, or misapprehension, then the first chapter of Genesis is correct, and in that case we could not possibly have a material body, but only think we have, and because we believe what we think, it would seem so to us. Wife, I am half inclined to think this is the solution, but how can I prove to others, or even myself, that my body is spiritual when it is so very material?"
"It is quite surprising to me, James, that you cannot readily explain this part of the Bible, for you have done little else all your life but study the Bible. At any rate, let it rest for to-night; you will, no doubt, get the right thought more readily after a good night's sleep."
The pastor rather reluctantly followed his wife out of the room and up stairs. He would have preferred to solve this knotty problem before retiring. He lay awake a long time thinking deeply, and the more he thought the more firmly he believed that Walter was right in his conclusions that the first narrative was the true one. Then the thought came; if this is correct, it will turn the whole world into confusion, for everybody believes in the dust man; in fact, every clergyman I know of is preaching the gospel from this standpoint.
It was after midnight before he finally went to sleep.
Walter, also, lay awake some time, but he was not trying to solve the question of which was the true narrative; he had fully satisfied himself in regard to this. What he was trying to do was to think of some way to convince his father and mother in regard to it.
Nearly two months had passed since the evening of the last Bible lesson. Walter was so interested in studying the Bible and "Science and Health," that he did not notice the dreary winter days. Besides, he was gaining very rapidly in strength and flesh to the great joy of his parents. His mother had some time ago noticed that he did not take his medicine, and spoke to him about it. He answered her in a very positive, but gentle tone, "No, mother, I am not taking any medicine and never intend to take any more, for I am now depending entirely on God, and He is making me well."
His mother had asked him when he had stopped taking it, and he said, "I determined never again to take medicine the night I realized the unreality of sickness, as it would be very foolish to take medicine to cure me of something which in reality did not exist." Both his father and mother tried to persuade him to continue taking his medicine, as they believed his improvement was due to this last kind he had been taking.
Walter knew better, so had said, "Please allow me to leave off taking it for a short time, and if I do not continue to improve, I will start taking it again to please you."
It had been left that way, although his parents were averse to his stopping at the very time he seemed to be gaining. They watched him closely, but he continued to improve so steadily and rapidly, that taking medicine had not been mentioned to him again. His mother continued taking hers, but showed no improvement.
Many times Walter asked his father when he would take up their Bible lessons again; but his father never seemed ready. He noticed that his father always seemed to be in a very thoughtful mood. The boy knew what was the cause of it, and several times had tried to engage his father in conversation regarding creation or some other part of the Bible, as he desired to point out the truth to him. But his father always dropped the subject as soon as possible, nor had he preached his sermon on creation as he had promised.
The pastor daily studied his Bible and was taking copious notes as he read, but did not seem to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. Many times he wondered at the little things Walter would say about the Bible, and on several occasions he had made up his mind to ask him some questions, but he disliked to let the boy know of his own inability to understand the Bible. He wondered if his wife was right in regard to the boy's being inspired. How else could he account for some of the things Walter said. On several occasions he had taken the trouble to prove his assertions, and found to his surprise that the Bible easily substantiated what the boy had said.
This was the state of affairs on a January afternoon when the pastor said to himself, "come what will, I am going to continue those Bible lessons this evening. What Walter said brought me into this darkness and confusion and it is possible he may say something that will show me the light."
That evening at supper the pastor surprised his wife and son by saying, "If it is agreeable to you both, we will continue our Bible lessons this evening."
They readily assented, and as soon as Mrs. Williams had finished her work, they repaired to the library.
As soon as they were seated the pastor said, "Well, Walter, have you changed your mind in regard to which of the two narratives regarding creation is the correct one?"
"No, father, I have not. I have put considerable more study on that subject since our last lesson, and I am now fully satisfied and convinced that the view expressed in regard to the first narrative being the true one is correct."
"Walter, I believe you are right. I have been studying and thinking all of these two months, and have come to the same conclusion regarding creation. Yet in no way have I been able to explain away all these material things and this material body."
"James, have you come to the conclusion that everything is spiritual?" asked his wife.
"Yes, Lillian, for there are only two conclusions to arrive at, either God is the creator spoken of in the first narrative where everything was made by the Word, or spiritually, and is pronounced very good, or else God is the creator spoken of in the second narrative and therefore He would be the creator of all this evil, sickness, sin, and death, with all the other dire calamities we are subjected to. And since I have thought and studied on this question, I cannot conceive of our Heavenly Father being the cause of all our troubles, who are His children, any more than I would bring such a visitation on my family. So of the two, I prefer believing that God made everything good as described in the first narrative, as it is impossible to believe both, for they are direct opposites. What bothers me is this material body and everything else that is material."
"Father, I believe I can throw some light on that subject if you will allow me."
His father looked at him for a moment, undecided whether to ask him to explain or not, for his last explanation had caused all his confusion, yet, as he thought of it, he now agreed with that explanation. Maybe the boy was inspired and he was doing wrong in not hearing what he had to say. Anyway, his getting well without the use of doctors or drugs was little short of a miracle to him, so he decided to have him explain, and said, "I will hear what you have to say on this subject, Walter, but be careful not to say anything ridiculous."
Walter smiled; he had learned a lesson the time he made his explanation regarding creation, and he did not intend that his enthusiasm should cause him to say too much this time and thereby make the same mistake he had made before. So he simply asked his father a question. "Did not everybody think the earth was flat years ago?"
"Yes, Walter, but what has that to do with our material bodies?"
"Did everybody believe it, father?"
"Certainly, for they did not know different"
"Did their thinking so make it so?"
"Most assuredly not, as you well know, Walter, the earth was always round."
"And even though they believed this mistake regarding the earth, it did not change the earth any, did it, father?" "No, but why these questions?"
"Only this, father, that this is just what we have been long doing regarding our bodies, thinking that they were material and believing it, but our mistaken thought regarding our bodies has not in reality changed them, any more than the thought that the earth was flat changed the earth. It seemed flat to those who believed it flat, though the truth was that the earth was round in reality. So with our bodies; they are material to us who believe them so, but in truth or reality, they are spiritual."
"I can readily agree with you in regard to the earth, because we know that it always was round, but we cannot prove that the body is spiritual."
"That is just the point, father. We can readily admit that the earth is round after it has been proven so; still before this proof was furnished the people would not admit it, any more than we will admit that our bodies are spiritual. Nevertheless the earth was round before it was proven so, and so with the body being spiritual. The proof of its spirituality does not change it any, as it will always remain as God made it, regardless of what man thinks or believes about it, nevertheless, Jesus Christ on several occasions proved the body to be spiritual and the proof that He done so is contained in the Bible, He also said 'Blessed are they who believe and do not see.'"
"I know Jesus Christ said that, but that was about something entirely different. You could hardly want me to believe something I could not see or prove, for you know, Walter, the old saying is that seeing is believing."
Walter immediately thought of what "Science and Health" said on this subject, so he said, "Can we always believe what we see?"
"Yes, I think so, son."
"Father, if you were to look out of this window to-morrow morning you would see in the distance where the heaven and earth seemed to meet; would you believe they did?"
"Certainly not, for I know better."
"Still you say, seeing is believing." His father leaned back in his chair and regarded his son critically; was the boy inspired? How else could he account for his intelligence? What was he to hear next, should he ask any more questions? Yes, he would ask him something more about this material body: "Walter is there anything in the Bible that you know of wherewith to substantiate your claim of a spiritual body?"
"I think there is, father. Jesus Christ must have known that his body was spiritual, and not material, for if his body had been material he could not have walked on the water, and in several places it speaks of Jesus becoming invisible to those around him."
"I know, son, but Jesus Christ was the Son of God."
"That is true, father, so are we, I distinctly remember reading in St. John—'now are we the sons of God.' St. Paul also speaks of us as sons of God and joint heirs with Christ."
The Rev. Williams slowly closed the Bible he had been holding open on his knee and looked at his son. Where would this thing end? He must try and confine the boy to one thing at a time, so he said, "I am still in the dark concerning your idea of how the material body came to be."
"Father, I will quote you again from the Bible—'as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he' This means that if you think anything, no matter what, and believe what you think, then so it is with you, and it seems true to you. For instance, take a person that is demented, who imagines he is King George, and believes it; to himself he is king George and no one can make him believe otherwise."
"That may be true of one who is demented, but how about a sane person?"
"This person may be sane on every topic but that one. Still I will give you another illustration of what the wrong thought on any subject will do. I read a while ago about some college students who decided to play a joke on their professor. This professor had several blocks to walk to the college, and the students decided to place themselves at frequent intervals along his path, and each one was to comment on how badly he looked, and intimate to him that he was sick. So on a certain morning as the professor was walking to the college (and he was feeling as well as usual), the first person he met was one of the students who greeted him warmly with a hearty 'good morning' and then added, 'What is the matter, professor, are you sick?' The professor said, 'No, I am feeling as well as usual; why do you ask?' The student then told him he looked very pale, and that he thought he must surely be sick. The professor then assured the student that he was feeling well and started toward the college. The next student he met also told him he looked sick; this was repeated several times, and caused the professor to imagine there must be something wrong. After meeting several more of the jokers he began to think he must be sick. Then being told the same thing a few more times, he believed he was sick, or believed what he thought, and turned back home a very sick man. So it is with us, we think we have material bodies, and because we believe what we think, it makes it seem true to us, even though it is not the truth."
"A very good illustration, Walter, I think I understand what you mean. If we all thought our bodies were spiritual and believed what we thought, then our bodies would be spiritual; in other words, whichever way we thought and believed, so it would really be."
"No father, that is not quite right. Simply thinking you are sick or well and believing it does not make you sick, or well, in reality; it only seems to do it to our mistaken mortal sense of things; the truth of anything remains the truth, regardless of how many falsehoods are told about it."
"Am I to understand Walter, that no matter what I or others may think or believe about this body, it does not change the facts regarding it, but only seems to do so to our senses?"
"That is just what I mean. God made us in His image and likeness, and as He is Spirit we must be like Him or spiritual, for matter is not the likeness of Spirit, but its opposite."
"That seems quite reasonable, Walter," said his mother, "but this material body is here, I can see it and feel it."
"It only seems to be material, mother, because we take our information from our five material senses; and as these five senses can only testify regarding material things because of their materiality, they do not testify to the truth, or reality, of man and the universe."
"But Walter," said the pastor, "if I am not to believe the testimony of my five senses, how am I to know anything?"
"The five material senses are continually deceiving us. The sense of sight I have spoken of before, but will give you a different illustration that shows up the deception of all the senses." "Father, do you believe life to be a reality?"
"I certainly do."
"Can you see life?"
"I hardly know how to answer that, I can see that you are alive. No, I shall say we can not see life itself, but only the manifestation of life."
"I agree with you, father, we cannot see life itself. Can we hear life?"
"No."
"Can we touch life?"
"No."
"Can we smell life?"
"No."
"Can we taste life?"
"No."
"Then our five material senses do not testify anything regarding a reality, for you said life was a reality." The pastor and his wife were very much surprised at Walter's ability to explain these things, and his mother was fully convinced of his being inspired, and the father was fast coming to the same conclusion.
"Did you understand me, father?"
"Yes, fully, you made it very plain."
"Now, father, would you say that the opposite of a reality was an unreality?"
The pastor hesitated, hardly daring to answer; at length he said, "Yes, it must be."
"Is not death the opposite of life, father?"
"Yes, Walter."
"Then if life is real, its opposite, or death, must be unreal; can you agree with me, father?" He always addressed his father, for his mother was showing by the nod of her head that she fully agreed with him."
"I must say, Walter, that I do agree with you, to quite an extent; but, I shall have to think it all over carefully before I will be fully convinced."
Walter then continued: "We have found that the five senses do not testify regarding a reality, now let us see if they testify regarding an unreality. As we had agreed that death was the opposite of life and that life was real and death unreal, we will take death as our example. When a person dies, we say life, or the reality has flown, and the unreality, the material or dead body, remains. Do our five material senses testify anything regarding this unreality or dead body? Yes, all five of them, for we can see this unreality with the eye. If we move this unreality, we hear it move with the ear. If we reach forth our hand we can touch it. After decomposition sets in, we can smell it; and if we would put a piece of it into our mouth, as we do of the dead cow or bird, we could even taste this unreality. This ought to convince us of the unreliability of the knowledge transmitted to us by the five senses; for, as I have shown, they all say the unreal is real and that the real is unreal. St. Paul said, 'To be carnally minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal.'"
"I know that St. Paul said this, but do not see as it has any bearing on the question we are discussing," said the pastor. "On the contrary, father, I think it is a verification of what I have been illustrating."
"Can you explain what you mean, Walter, so your mother and I will understand?"
"To me it seems plain, the carnal mind is the fleshly mind, which thinks everything is material; and this method of thinking leads to the belief in a material body and eventually in the death, or unreality, of this material body, the returning of the fleshly body to its original state, dust to dust, the real meaning of which I think is, nothing you were, to nothing you must return, for only the real is eternal."
"Walter, where do you get that definition of the word dust?"
"I take it from what is implied in the 2d chapter of Genesis, 7th verse, where it reads, 'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground'; as there is no record of any dust having been made, it is very easy to see that dust must be the name given to designate something that exists only in our imagination, a false sense of the real, an illusion, and this 'Lord God' the suppositional creator of material things, is the false or material sense of God entertained by us mortals, and only exists in our imagination. I believe our prayers are unanswered for this very reason that the God we have been praying to exists in our imagination only and is a man-made God, or, as I said before, a God conceived by man."
"Not so fast, Walter; let us finish one thing at a time. Your explanation of the dust man is very reasonable, but I don't see where you get your authority for calling dust an unreality, or illusion."
"Father, I thought we had agreed that there was a hidden, or spiritual, meaning to all that was written in the Bible, and I think what I have said about this dust or material man is this meaning; take for instance, the first verse of chapter 3 of Genesis, which reads,'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.'Now, father, who ever heard of a talking snake. No one. It is only a myth, and I believe this snake was used to symbolize the narrator's idea of evil, tempting the children of God, Good, to do evil.
"Another illustration that this second narrative is metaphorically written is in Genesis 2, 9th verse, which reads:'And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.'We can readily agree that there is no tree that bears fruit called good and evil, so this word 'tree' is used metaphorically, and stands for something quite different."
Here Walter stopped and looked at his father to see what effect his speech was having on him, also because he thought he had said enough for one time. But his father was leaning slightly forward and had been drinking in every word the boy was saying, as he was fully convinced that his son did not of himself know all these things about the Bible, and, consequently, it must be that he was inspired.
The mother had the same opinion, so did not care to interrupt him.
Walter continued looking from one to the other not knowing what to make of their silence and the knowing look which passed between them, as he did not know that they thought him inspired.
At length the father, said, "Walter, do you know what is meant by the word 'tree' in that verse?"
"I think I do, father; to me it stands for the word, 'thought,' for this seems to bring out the spiritual meaning of the verse; for instance, if we would read the verse this way, 'Every thought that is pleasant to the sight, i. e., understanding, and good for food, the thought of life also in the midst of the garden and the thought or belief in good and evil'; this may not be correct, but it at least makes it plain to me. And when we remember that Adam and Eve were allowed to eat of all the trees excepting this tree of knowledge of good and evil, it seems to me that they were forbidden to believe that both good and evil were real, in other words, to believe that both spirit and matter existed; for as soon as they would eat or believed in materiality the penalty would be death, as they were believing in something that did not in reality exist. This false belief must in the end inevitably result in death or annihilation, as it is this false belief of life as existent in matter, or material body, that dies and is annihilated, for the real or spiritual man cannot die."
"What do you mean by spiritual man?"
"The Bible says: 'God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent.' Let us define this word omniscient. In a common sense way, 'omni' means all, and 'scientia' means science, then it would be proper to say, 'God is all science, and science is perfect intelligence,' for the scientific reality concerning anything, is the perfect intelligence pertaining thereto. We can now say, 'God is all intelligence,' the word 'all' includes our intelligence, then God is the intelligence, the thinking ability, or mind, of man."
"Walter, do you wish to intimate that the brain is God?"
"No, father, the brain cannot think."
"Walter, this is nonsense, of course the brain thinks, we certainly do not think with our hands or feet."
"Just a moment, father, and we will see if the brain has the ability to think. Supposing we take it out and lay it on a platter, does it think?" "Certainly not, it is not in its proper place," said his father.
"It seems to me, that if the brain had the ability in itself to think, it could do so no matter what place it occupied."
"No, Walter, that would not be a fair illustration."
"All right father, we will now take another example. Say a man should drop dead on the street from apoplexy; there lies his material body, his brain occupies its accustomed place, not having been disturbed at all, yet you would not say that his brain had the ability to think?"
"But the man was dead, life had flown," said Mr. Williams.
"Then it is Life that has in itself the ability to think, for everything else is there, in its proper place, and what is the life of a man but his consciousness, his intelligence, his mind. Now we have arrived at the same point in our reasoning where we were before, that God is Mind, intelligence, the Life of man, and that brains cannot think. You see, father, the brain is also matter, the same as the rest of our material body, that is, dust, or as I explained before, nothing; an illusion, or false conception."
"Do you mean to say I have no body at all?"
"No, father, what I mean is that man has taken a false view of his body by thinking it material when in reality it is spiritual, as is all the rest of the universe; for God, Spirit could not make a material world, as matter is the opposite of spirit."
The Rev. Mr. Williams leaned his head on his hand and was thinking deeply. Could Walter's explanation be the truth? He could see when what we called death occurred the consciousness, intelligence, or what we called life, seemed to leave the body and thereafter the body was inanimate, and in time returned to dust. Reasoning from this standpoint, he could agree that life and intelligence were the same, and that the intelligence of man was his mind was also plain, but that Mind was God, was beyond his comprehension, because he had always conceived of mind and brain as being the same, consequently, that the brain had the power of thought. Yet Walter's explanation concerning the inability of the brain, in the corpse, to think, and that it was as material as the rest of the body was quite convincing that brain, in itself, did not contain the power of thought. Was the boy right regarding the word omniscient? If so, it would be very easy to agree with him when he said that God was the intelligence or mind of man; he, himself, believed in an all intelligent creator.
Walter all this while had been waiting for his father or mother to express themselves, as they did not, he said: "If we can agree that Mind is God, then it is very easy to conceive of man as the image and likeness of God, and this image would be spiritual and not material."
His father looked up at him but did not speak. His mother said: "How would that help it, Walter?"
"If we reason from the standpoint that Mind is the creative force or first cause, and as we know that like produces like, it would be impossible for the creative force, or Mind, to produce matter, for matter is the opposite of mind. Now let us see what Mind does create,—why thoughts or ideas and nothing else, so we see that man is a thought, or a number of them, or idea emanating from the one Mind or creative force and the idea or thought must be the image and likeness of the mind or intelligence that conceived it. This would give us a spiritual man, who in reality would be the image and likeness of the real God."
"Walter," said his father, "I cannot stand to hear any more to-night, I will not say that you are right or wrong, as I must have time to think, and the more I hear you say, the more in the dark I seem to be, besides it is getting quite late and it is time we were retiring."
"I hope you are not angry for my presuming to explain the Bible as I see it, for I believe I am right; in fact, I have had proof sufficient to convince me that it cannot be otherwise."
"No Walter, I am not angry, but very badly mixed up in my reasoning because of the peculiar views you entertain concerning God and man. What proof have you had that you are right?"
"Through these peculiar views as you call them, I am being restored to health; in fact, I believe every symptom has gone forever, and that I am entirely well, besides I feel so happy, contented, and free that I can hardly wait for the day when mother will understand, and be free from her bondage."
"If understanding will make her free I pray God that He will give her such understanding, but I cannot see what connection understanding can possibly have with sickness."
"You know, father, Jesus Christ said, 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' The question is, free from what? For the men He was speaking to answered Him saying: 'We be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man, how sayest thou then, ye shall be free?' Jesus Christ answered them, 'Verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever commiteth sin, is the servant of sin.' At another time as related in Matthew 9:5, Jesus Christ intimated that sin and sickness were one and the same. He said to thesickman, 'Son, be of good cheer, thysinsare forgiven thee,' and certain of the scribes said, 'This man blasphemeth.' Jesus Christ, knowing what they were thinking and saying, said, 'Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts, for whither is easier to say, thy sins are forgiven thee or to say, arise and walk.' If we can now agree that sin and sickness are the same, we could say with Jesus Christ, 'Verily, verily I say unto you, whosoever commiteth (sickness) sin, is the servant of sickness,' for we certainly are the slaves of any sickness that we claim to have, and give it the power to rule us with a rod of iron, and in doing so, we sin against the first commandment, 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,' as we are making a God or power of our sickness. And if we take medicine, we are giving the medicine power to heal, or making a God of it, and in doing so we break the same commandment. Now, father, good-night, and I hope by a careful perusal of the Bible on this subject you will be able to agree with me. Good-night, mother."
"Good-night, Walter," said both his father and mother, as he turned to leave the room.
As soon as he was gone Mrs. Williams turned to the pastor and said:"To-night you must surely agree with me that the boy is inspired."
The pastor looked up at her and said, "That is the only way I can account for the wonderful things he says. I must admit he has gone far beyond me, in his understanding of the Bible. I intend to put in the next few days in verifying his explanations."
"James, do you think the boy can be right in regard to sickness and sin being the same?"
"There is hardly any other conclusion to arrive at, if we believe the words of Jesus Christ. Now let us go to bed, as it is quite late."
Bright and early the next morning Walter was up and reading in "Science and Health." After reading some little time, he heard his mother calling him to breakfast. He laid his book down and said: "This is the most wonderful book I ever read; no matter how many times I read it over, it seems like a new book, and sometimes I wonder if I had not skipped some of it when I read it before, as there are many things I see in it now that I did not see before. I suppose it is because I did not understand it all the first time."
Shortly after breakfast, his mother asked Walter to do an errand for her down town. On the way he began to wonder if Christian Scientists had a church or meeting-place, he also wished he knew of some one who was a Scientist, as he desired very much to ask some questions, particularly in regard to his mother's illness.
On his return from town, he was compelled to wait several moments at a railroad crossing near the depot, and as he stepped inside his eye caught sight of a little bracket nailed to the wall. In the bracket was a book, and on the cover in large print were the words, "Christian Science Journal." Walter hastily walked over to the wall, took the book, and began to examine it. He saw it was published monthly in Boston. Opening the book, he saw the first part was reading matter, and as he turned page after page, he came to where he saw, "List of organized churches of Christ, Scientist." Immediately he began looking if there was a church in his town. He noticed that the names of the towns and cities were arranged alphabetically. After searching for a moment he said, "Yes, here it is, 'Mapelton, Vermont. First church of Christ, Scientist, First Reader, John J. Sivad; Services 10:45 A. M., Sunday School 12 M., Wednesday 7:45 P. M., Number 52 Squirrel Ave., on Island. Reading-room same address, 2 to 4 P. M.' Why, that is only five or six blocks from my home; I wish I could go to their service. I may some day. They seem to have a great many churches; there are eight in Chicago alone; three in Cleveland, Ohio; three in Kansas City; three in London, England; six in New York City; two in New Orleans, La.; three in Portland; one in Paris, France; one in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. "Why, they seem to be in every city in the world." He continued to read and turned the pages until he came to a page where he saw printed, "Addresses of Christian Science Practitioners." "I wonder what they mean by practitioner; it must mean those who practice Christian Science, but I should think every Christian Scientist would practice what he knows. I wonder if there are any in Mapelton; let me see, they are all classified in states and cities; yes, there is Mapelton. There are three of them here.
"Mrs. F. S. White, C. S., 281 N. Grant St.
"Mrs. M. J. Sivad, C. S., 742 Upland Court.
"Mrs. L. S. Poor, C. S., 45 Napoleon Ave.
"I wonder if all practitioners are women; no, here is Mr. Sherman Bradford; here is another man; Oh, yes, there are a good many men, but there are more women than men. I know Mrs. White; her husband used to keep a shoe store, and Mrs. M. J. Sivad is that lovely lady who lives in a beautiful large mansion in Upland Court, the finest street in town; her husband is a retired merchant. And Mrs. L. S. Poor is that tall, stately looking lady that passes by our house so often. I must have a talk with them some time. Now I must hurry home or mother will think something has happened."
Arriving home, he told his mother he had stopped at the depot, and that this was the reason of his delay.
Walter was now so well and strong that his parents did not worry much about him, but Walter and his father were quite alarmed at Mrs. William's condition, for she had been failing rapidly for the last month and was so weak that it was almost impossible for her to do her accustomed work. Walter and his father did all they could to help her and made her work as light as possible.
It was several days later when his mother felt so ill that she could not get up at all, and so Walter decided to go to one of the practitioners for advice, which he did that same afternoon.
He told the practitioner of his illness and of his finding "Science and Health" and that the reading and study of the book had cured him; also that his mother was sick, that he was a minister's son, and his father was very much opposed to Christian Science. He also told her of their Bible lessons and of the confusion of his father.
The practitioner told him that the word practitioner was used instead of doctor or healer and that this was her profession, healing the sick, and that she would be pleased to help him all she could, but that she had no right to treat his mother without her consent.
Walter assured her that it would be impossible to get either his father or mother's consent, for they refused to have him treated at one time when a friend had suggested it.
The practitioner then said, "Well, Mr. Williams, your work is before you. Truth has found you, and Truth will show you a way out of your seeming trouble. Trust God and never doubt His wisdom, for God, Good, works in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; you must hold in thought that everything will come to pass as you wish it, and if you can persuade your father to have a talk with me, let me know, and I will be pleased to come."
Thanking the practitioner for her advice, Walter left the house and started home. He was not fully satisfied with his visit; many of the questions he had asked the practitioner remained unanswered, as he supposed, for the practitioner always referred him to "Science and Health." In answer to one of his most important questions, she said, "'Science and Health,' page so and so, says thus—"and then she would quote something from the book, but he could see no connection between his question and the quotation. When he arrived home he decided to tell his father all and try to persuade him to have his mother treated by a Christian Science practitioner.
The same evening Walter went into the library to see his father, and found him seated at his desk with his Bible open before him. As Walter seated himself near the desk, his father looked up and asked, "What is it, Walter?"
"I came to have a little talk with you, father."
"I am glad you did, as there are several questions I wanted to ask you, one of which is in regard to that saying of Jesus Christ—'ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free'-you explained before but I did not catch your meaning."
"Let us use an illustration to show what is meant by that saying. For instance, supposing we had been taught from childhood that two times two are five, and every person on earth believed this to be right, we would all go through life making this mistake. There would be constant trouble all over the mathematical world because of it, and when we tried to rectify this trouble we would use this same mistake in trying to arrive at a true answer. At times we would deceive ourselves and believe we were right, only to find later on that we were in deeper trouble. And when we had children of our own, we would still teach them the same as we were taught that two times two are five, and the longer the world stood, the greater would become this mistake, as no one knew the truth that two times two were only four; yet all this time the principle of mathematics existed and was correct, but man knew it not. Now father, imagine how great and widespread this mistake would become in several thousands of years, and how hard it would be to convince the people of their mistake, especially the professor of mathematics who had devoted a lifetime to proving that this mistake was the truth. You can readily see it would be much easier for the child who had never learned or believed in the mistake to grasp this truth than the professor who believed that the mistake was correct. Supposing that while these conditions existed some one should discover the truth, that two times two are four, and would bring it before the world; would not the learned professor ridicule the idea and say two times two have been five since the beginning of the world, and for any one to say different is nonsense? Could you induce him to investigate? No; why? Because he thinks he knows all about it, and that it would be a waste of time to investigate what he supposes is nonsense. So it is with man. For thousands of years he has been taught that he has a material body and that this body is intelligent, and knows when it has a toe that aches or a stomach that is out of order, or an arm that it can not move, etc., throughout all the ills that flesh is heir to. And when man gets in trouble through this mistaken teaching, we try to correct the trouble by making the same mistake again; for it was through the belief that man has a material body and that matter is intelligent that all this trouble came about, and now we try to correct the trouble by using more matter in the guise of medicine.
"If we had insisted on the professor of mathematics who was using the mistake of two times two are five in his work, to give us a correct answer every time, he would be compelled to say that it was an impossibility. If you were to ask why, he would say, because the principle of mathematics isn't correct; he could not say otherwise, as he did not know that the mistake had been made in teaching him that two times two are five. So it is with man, when he gets so deeply in trouble that he cannot see any way out he lays his trouble to God and blames his perfect Principle, when the truth is that the mistake is not with the Principle, but with his own false belief, brought about by his being taught a mistake."
Walter stopped and looked at his father, but he said nothing, so he continued, "And when man goes to the professor of Christianity, the minister, and asks why all this trouble and sickness has come upon him, the answer is the same as the professor of mathematics made, by saying it must be the will of God—thereby intimating that God was the author of his troubles; in other words, that the Principle of man must be wrong. Instead of showing him that God, who is all good, could not make evil, and consequently, he must be suffering through a false belief brought about by being taught a mistake. Now let us suppose that some one should discover that man was spiritual and had a spiritual body, that the entire universe was spiritual and matter did not exist only as a false belief; that God made everything good, consequently there could be no evil, and that evil existed only in belief. If the one who discovered this truth should try to convince the professor of Christianity, the minister, that God made only the good and the evil did not exist, the professor would say, thou blasphemest, God made everything—if he should advance the thought that man was wholly spiritual, the professor would ridicule him, and say you must be mistaken, my body is material. I can feel it, and every man's body has been so since the beginning of the world. If the discoverer insisted that everything was spiritual in reality, these learned professors would say the discoverer was insane, and then try to pass laws prohibiting the teaching of this truth. In olden times they did somewhat differently; the learned professors of that day crucified the demonstrator of this truth. It was Jesus Christ, and His students were called His disciples; later when they went forth to preach the Gospel, 'good spell,' (or truth), and heal the sick, they were called apostles. The rediscoverer of this Truth at the present time is Mary Baker G. Eddy, and her students are called Christian Scientists; and later, when they go forth to preach the Gospel or Truth, and heal the sick, they are called Christian Science Practitioners, and he who condemns her teachings condemns the Truth, the same as the scribes and pharisees condemned the teachings of Jesus Christ; and it is the understanding of this Truth that sets us free, as Jesus Christ said it would."
For several minutes the pastor did nothing but lean back in his chair and stare at his son; then he said, "Walter do you mean to tell me that you received all this information pertaining to the Bible from a Christian Scientist?"
"No, father, what I know of the Bible and the explanations I have been able to make regarding the sayings of Jesus Christ, together with what I have said about the real meaning of creation as narrated in Genesis, I have learned by careful study of the Christian Science text book, 'Science and Health,' with key to the scriptures, by Mary Baker G. Eddy, and by comparing the writings in this book with the Bible, I have become fully convinced that Christian Science, as explained in 'Science and Health' is the same Truth that Jesus Christ taught His disciples. Jesus Christ said, 'These signs shall follow them that believe, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover,' etc. Christian Science practitioners are doing this, and the signs spoken of by Jesus Christ follow their work. As yet I have only learned a few of the simplest things pertaining to this science, but this little helped me much."
"But, Walter, how do we know that it is not the work of the evil one? or a trick of the devil to lead you astray? I am very much afraid that you did wrong in not asking me about this teaching before you filled your mind so full of it."
"Father, you surely must agree that the things I have explained to you regarding the Bible are true, or at least nearer right than the way you were taught; and if you will only study 'Science and Health' you will soon agree with me."
"Walter, I have had enough of this; you have heard me express my views regarding this heretical idea; now I must insist that you stop reading such nonsense at once, I will admit that some of your statements seemed very plausible, but there is no proof that they are true."
"Father, I must speak more on this subject even though you accuse me of disobedience. I have ample proof that Christian Science is true, and that the signs do follow their teachings. One proof is that it was through the understanding I gained by the study of 'Science and Health' that I am well to-day."
"Oh, pshaw, the idea that reading a book could have healed you of consumption! I credited you with more intelligence than that."
"It was not the reading of the book that healed me, it was the understanding of the truth this book contains that showed me the way out of my troubles; for if I had not found and studied this book I would probably not be with you now."
"Did you say you found this book?"
"Yes, Thanksgiving day, between the church and our home. At first I was afraid to read it, and probably would not have read it if it had not been for an incident that happened on our last trip to the South."
"What incident was that? I don't believe I heard anything about it."
"One day as mother and I were walking along the street, a lady approached us, and among other things made the remark that she read 'Science and Health' every day, and the reading of the book had healed her of some severe disease. This lady did not look like a bad person, so I thought if the book had healed her, it might me, and the truth it contains has done so."
"You have certainly gained a great deal in health since Thanksgiving day, but may not this be the work of the devil to lead you astray?"
"Father do you think it a good thing that I am well?"
"What a question, why certainly I do."
"Did you ever hear of the devil doing a good thing?"
The pastor looked surprised, but answered, "No."
"Then why do you say that maybe my getting well is the work of the devil?" The pastor could not find a ready answer, after a moment he said, "As I said before, I don't want anything to do with Christian Science, be it good or bad, and it will please me if you will never mention it to me again."
"Oh, father, I must speak of it to you for—"
"Silence! I will hear no more of it."
"But father, listen to—"
"Walter, I forbid you to speak to me on the subject again."
"Father, I must speak!"
"Do you dare disobey me?"
"Yes! for my mother's life depends upon my speaking. Let me speak this once on this subject, and I will agree never to mention Christian Science to you again unless you wish it."
The pastor's anger had been rising, but when Walter said his mother's life depended on his speaking, every particle of color left his face, and the anger vanished at once. He looked at Walter and saw he was dreadfully in earnest, so he said, "Speak this once, I will hear you."
"Father it was through the reading of 'Science and Health' that I was healed of the dread disease that is even now threatening the life of my mother; and as soon as I was convinced of the truth of this teaching I called upon a practitioner, asking her for advice regarding my mother's illness and asked her to give mother treatment. I did this without your consent, as I knew how prejudiced you both were regarding this subject, but the practitioner kindly told me she would not treat mother without her consent. And I knew mother would never consent to take treatment if you were opposed to it, so I felt I must gain your consent first. The practitioner would be pleased to come and talk with you on this subject at any time."
"No doubt of it, but I will have nothing to do with Christian Science."
"Oh, father, don't say that; you must be even more prejudiced than I thought."
"Yes, I am prejudiced, against all such nonsense."
"Father, will nothing change your views?" said Walter rather coldly.
"No, nothing."
"Then father, forever hereafter, I will ascribe the death of my mother to your unreasoning prejudice against Christian Science, for the medical profession cannot cure her, but Christian Science can." As Walter finished speaking, he arose from his chair and left the room; he immediately proceeded to his own bed-chamber, as he felt he must be alone, for he was terribly hurt by his father's prejudice against something which he admitted he had never investigated.
Walter had always supposed that his father was very broad-minded, but in this instance he thought him very narrow, condemning something he knew nothing about, in fact could not be induced to investigate or try, even though his dearly beloved wife's life might be saved by a trial.
It was at least a half hour before Walter could calm himself enough to think clearly. Then like a flash he remembered one of the sayings of the practitioner when he had told her that he thought he would have trouble in persuading his father to try Christian Science. She said, "Truth has found you and Truth will lead you out of your trouble." He now bowed his head and said, "Oh, God, I had forgotten that thou art an ever-present help in time of trouble."
He then secured his "Science and Health" and after reading for some time he stopped and said: "Here is what I have been looking for." Then he slowly read, aloud, "God, Good, is not the creator of evil." Continuing to soliloquize he said, "Of course not, God is Good, and Good could not make evil. Then evil does not exist, for God made everything that was made. Is prejudice an evil?"