0.0 – Christian Science – 16 Books by Mary Baker Eddy – Bk 6 – Retrospection and Introspection – Chpt 28 – Admonition

                              ADMONITION 

 1	    The neophyte in Christian Science acts like a diseased
  	physique, — being too fast or too slow. He is in-
 3	clined to do either too much or too little. In healing and
  	teaching the student has not yet achieved the entire wis-
  	dom of Mind-practice. The textual explanation of this
 6	practice is complete in Science and Health; and scientific
  	practice makes perfect, for it is governed by its Principle,
  	and not by human opinions; but carnal and sinister
 9	motives, entering into this practice, will prevent the
  	demonstration of Christian Science. 
  	    I recommend students not to read so-called scientific
12	works, antagonistic to Christian Science, which advocate
  	materialistic systems; because such works and words be-
  	cloud the right sense of metaphysical Science. 
15	    The rules of Mind-healing are wholly Christlike and
  	spiritual. Therefore the adoption of a worldly policy or a
  	resort to subterfuge in the statement of  the Science of
18	Mind-healing, or any name given to it other than Christian
  	Science, or an attempt to demonstrate the facts of this
  	Science other than is stated in Science and Health — is a
21	departure from the Science of Mind-healing. To becloud
  	mortals, or for yourself to hide from God, is to conspire
  	against the blessings otherwise conferred, against your
24	own success and final happiness, against the progress of
 
  
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 1	the human race as well as against honest metaphysical
  	theory and practice. 
 3	    Not by the hearing of the ear is spiritual truth learned
  	and loved; nor cometh this apprehension from the ex-
  	periences of others. We glean spiritual harvests from our
 6	own material losses. In this consuming heat false images
  	are effaced from the canvas of mortal mind; and thus does
  	the material pigment beneath fade into invisibility. 
 9	    The signs for the wayfarer in divine Science lie in meek-
  	ness, in unselfish motives and acts, in shuffling off scholastic
  	rhetoric, in ridding the thought of effete doctrines, in the
12	purification of the affections and desires. 
  	    Dishonesty, envy, and mad ambition are "lusts of the
  	flesh," which uproot the germs of growth in Science and
15	leave the inscrutable problem of being unsolved. Through
  	the channels of material sense, of worldly policy, pomp,
  	and pride, cometh no success in Truth. If beset with mis-
18	guided emotions, we shall be stranded on the quicksands
  	of worldly commotion, and practically come short of the
  	wisdom requisite for teaching and demonstrating the
21	victory over self and sin. 
  	    Be temperate in thought, word, and deed. Meekness
  	and temperance are the jewels of Love, set in wisdom. 
24	Restrain untempered zeal. "Learn to labor and to wait." 
  	Of old the children of Israel were saved by patient waiting. 
  	    "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
27	violent take it by force!" said Jesus. Therefore are
  	its spiritual gates not captured, nor its golden streets
  	invaded. 
30	    We recognize this kingdom, the reign of harmony
 
  
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 1	within us, by an unselfish affection or love, for this is the
  	pledge of divine good and the insignia of heaven. This
 3	also is proverbial, that though eternal justice be graciously
  	gentle, yet it may seem severe. 

  	               For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,
 6	               And scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. 

  	    As the poets in different languages have expressed it: — 

  	               Though the mills of God grind slowly,
 9	                 Yet they grind exceeding small;
  	               Though with patience He stands waiting,
  	                 With exactness grinds He all. 

12	    Though the divine rebuke is effectual to the pulling
  	down of sin's strongholds, it may stir the human heart to
  	resist Truth, before this heart becomes obediently recep-
15	tive of the heavenly discipline. If the Christian Scientist
  	recognize the mingled sternness and gentleness which
  	permeate justice and Love, he will not scorn the timely re-
18	proof, but will so absorb it that this warning will be within
  	him a spring, welling up into unceasing spiritual rise and
  	progress. Patience and obedience win the golden scholar-
21	ship of experimental tuition. 
  	    The kindly shepherd of the East carries his lambs in his
  	arms to the sheepcot, but the older sheep pass into the fold
24	under his compelling rod. He who sees the door and turns
  	away from it, is guilty, while innocence strayeth yearningly. 
  	    There are no greater miracles known to earth than per-
27	fection and an unbroken friendship. We love our friends,
  	but ofttimes we lose them in proportion to our affection. 
  	The sacrifices made for others are not infrequently met by
 
  
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 1	envy, ingratitude, and enmity, which smite the heart and
  	threaten to paralyze its beneficence. The unavailing tear
 3	is shed both for the living and the dead. 
  	    Nothing except sin, in the students themselves, can
  	separate them from me. Therefore we should guard
 6	thought and action, keeping them in accord with Christ,
  	and our friendship will surely continue. 
  	    The letter of the law of God, separated from its spirit,
 9	tends to demoralize mortals, and must be corrected by a
  	diviner sense of liberty and light. The spirit of Truth ex-
  	tinguishes false thinking, feeling, and acting; and falsity
12	must thus decay, ere spiritual sense, affectional conscious-
  	ness, and genuine goodness become so apparent as to be
  	well understood. 
15	    After the supreme advent of Truth in the heart, there
  	comes an overwhelming sense of error's vacuity, of the
  	blunders which arise from wrong apprehension. The en-
18	lightened heart loathes error, and casts it aside; or else
  	that heart is consciously untrue to the light, faithless to
  	itself and to others, and so sinks into deeper darkness. 
21	Said Jesus: "If the light that is in thee be darkness, how
  	great is that darkness!" and Shakespeare puts this pious
  	counsel into a father's mouth: — 

24	               This above all:  To thine own self be true;
  	               And it must follow, as the night the day,
  	               Thou canst not then be false to any man. 


27	    A realization of the shifting scenes of human happiness,
  	and of the frailty of mortal anticipations, — such as first
  	led me to the feet of Christian Science, — seems to be requi-
30	site at every stage of advancement. Though our first les-
 
  
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 1	sons are changed, modified, broadened, yet their core is
  	constantly renewed; as the law of the chord remains
 3	unchanged, whether we are dealing with a simple Latour
  	exercise or with the vast Wagner Trilogy. 
  	    A general rule is, that my students should not allow their
 6	movements to be controlled by other students, even if they
  	are teachers and practitioners of the same blessed faith. 
  	The exception to this rule should be very rare. 
 9	    The widest power and strongest growth have always
  	been attained by those loyal students who rest on divine
  	Principle for guidance, not on themselves; and who locate
12	permanently in one section, and adhere to the orderly
  	methods herein delineated. 
  	    At this period my students should locate in large cities,
15	in order to do the greatest good to the greatest number, and
  	therein abide. The population of our principal cities is
  	ample to supply many practitioners, teachers, and preachers
18	with work. This fact interferes in no way with the pros-
  	perity of each worker; rather does it represent an accumu-
  	lation of power on his side which promotes the ease and
21	welfare of the workers. Their liberated capacities of mind
  	enable Christian Scientists to consummate much good or
  	else evil; therefore their examples either excel or fall short
24	of other religionists; and they must be found dwelling
  	together in harmony, if even they compete with ecclesias-
  	tical fellowship and friendship. 
27	    It is often asked which revision of Science and Health is
  	the best. The arrangement of my last revision, in 1890,
  	makes the subject-matter clearer than any previous edition,
30	and it is therefore better adapted to spiritualize thought
 
  
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 1	and elucidate scientific healing and teaching. It has
  	already been proven that this volume is accomplishing the
 3	divine purpose to a remarkable degree. The wise Chris-
  	tian Scientist will commend students and patients to the
  	teachings of this book, and the healing efficacy thereof,
 6	rather than try to centre their interest on himself. 
  	    Students whom I have taught are seldom benefited by
  	the teachings of other students, for scientific foundations
 9	are already laid in their minds which ought not to be tam-
  	pered with. Also, they are prepared to receive the infinite
  	instructions afforded by the Bible and my books, which
12	mislead no one and are their best guides. 
  	    The student may mistake in his conception of Truth, and
  	this error, in an honest heart, is sure to be corrected. But
15	if he misinterprets the text to his pupils, and communicates,
  	even unintentionally, his misconception of Truth, there-
  	after he will find it more difficult to rekindle his own light
18	or to enlighten them. Hence, as a rule, the student should
  	explain only Recapitulation, the chapter for the class-room,
  	and leave Science and Health to God's daily interpretation. 
21	    Christian Scientists should take their textbook into the
  	schoolroom the same as other teachers; they should ask
  	questions from it, and be answered according to it, — occa-
24	sionally reading aloud from the book to corroborate what
  	they teach. It is also highly important that their pupils
  	study each lesson before the recitation. 
27	    That these essential points are ever omitted, is anoma-
  	lous, when we consider the necessity of thoroughly under-
  	standing Science, and the present liability of deviating
30	from absolute Christian Science. 
 
  
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 1	    Centuries will intervene before the statement of the inex-
  	haustible topics of Science and Health is sufficiently under-
 3	stood to be fully demonstrated. 
  	    The teacher himself should continue to study this text-
  	book, and to spiritualize his own thoughts and human life
 6	from this open fount of Truth and Love. 
  	    He who sees clearly and enlightens other minds most
  	readily, keeps his own lamp trimmed and burning. 
 9	Throughout his entire explanations he strictly adheres to
  	the teachings in the chapter on Recapitulation. When
  	closing the class, each member should own a copy of
12	Science and Health, and continue to study and assimilate
  	this inexhaustible subject — Christian Science. 
  	    The opinions of men cannot be substituted for God's
15	revelation. In times past, arrogant pride, in attempting to
  	steady the ark of Truth, obscured even the power and
  	glory of the Scriptures, — to which Science and Health is
18	the Key. 
  	    That teacher does most for his students who divests him-
  	self most of pride and self, and by reason thereof is able to
21	empty his students' minds of error, that they may be filled
  	with Truth. Thus doing, posterity will call him blessed,
  	and the tired tongue of history be enriched. 
24	    The less the teacher personally controls other minds, and
  	the more he trusts them to the divine Truth and Love, the
  	better it will be for both teacher and student. 
27	    A teacher should take charge only of his own pupils and
  	patients, and of those who voluntarily place themselves
  	under his direction; he should avoid leaving his own regu-
30	lar institute or place of labor, or expending his labor where
 
  
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 1	there are other teachers who should be specially responsible
  	for doing their own work well. 
 3	    Teachers of Christian Science will find it advisable to
  	band together their students into associations, to continue
  	the organization of churches, and at present they can
 6	employ any other organic operative method that may
  	commend itself as useful to the Cause and beneficial to
  	mankind. 
 9	    Of this also rest assured, that books and teaching are but
  	a ladder let down from the heaven of Truth and Love, upon
  	which angelic thoughts ascend and descend, bearing on
12	their pinions of light the Christ-spirit. 
  	    Guard yourselves against the subtly hidden suggestion
  	that the Son of man will be glorified, or humanity benefited,
15	by any deviation from the order prescribed by supernal
  	grace. Seek to occupy no position whereto you do not feel
  	that God ordains you. Never forsake your post without
18	due deliberation and light, but always wait for God's finger
  	to point the way. The loyal Christian Scientist is incapable
  	alike of abusing the practice of Mind-healing or of healing
21	on a material basis. 
  	    The tempter is vigilant, awaiting only an opportunity
  	to divide the ranks of Christian Science and scatter the
24	sheep abroad; but "if God be for us, who can be against
  	us?" The Cause, our Cause, is highly prosperous, rapidly
  	spreading over the globe; and the morrow will crown the
27	effort of to-day with a diadem of gems from the New
  	Jerusalem.SHOW ALL