Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-11
TO GAIN, PREACHING
MUST BE PRACTICED
FIDELITY TO PRINCIPLE IS
STRONGEST LESSON
Mrs. Eddy's Doctrines Enable Man to
Do Things of Which Previ.
ousIy He Gave but
Utterance

When Mrs. Eddy says, "The error Of
the ages il preaching without practice"
she gives expression to a vital truth
which we all recognize, but which per-
maps we 90 not readily appropriate to
our own use. How far-reaching in ef-
rect are good deeds! How tame and
weak are mere words in comparisonI
When corruption has eaten its way
into the heart Of the government Of a
great city or nation, and one lone man
among those possessed of power lifts
MS voice for honesty, purity and clean
l1ness In the administration of it's af-
fairs, in spite Of the opposition which
his action arouses from the corrup-
tlonists. his example stands out as
clear and bright as some great star
whose rays alone pierce the inky
night. Perhaps in every pulpit of the
land ministers are uttering truisms,
about goodness and honesty, and faith
ers are repeating similar words of ad-
vice to mold the characters Of their
sons, but one strong example Of fidel-
1ty to Principle leaves deeper i'm
print for good than many sermons.
His Life Was Truth
If Jesus had not lived the truth he
taught, does any one imagine that his
words would be repeated in the
churches of every land as they are to-
day? On the other hand, the inf1u-
ence Of a life of such purity and good
ness could but have been felt far and
wide, to the betterment of mankind
and the exaltation of ideals, even
though no word Of advice or counsel
had been given by him. ''But," says
some one, ''it is so easy to preach and
SO hard to practice!'' This is of course
only one of the multifarious lies sug-
gested by the evil one. There can be
no doubt that the criminal whose
career comes to a tragic end, after
winding his devious way through the
subterranean passage of sin and crime,
has not found so easy a path even in
this world as he would have done had
he taken the straight and narrow one.
The fact that the shortest distance be-
tween two points is by a straight line
is as correct a guide in moral and re-
hgious life as when applied to the
problems of geometry.
We often attribute our failure to rem
der perfect obedience to Gods laws to
the fact that we do not understand
them. Doubtless if we did fully UNDER
stand those laws, and were in perfect
accord Herewith, it would be as i'm
possible for us to sin as it would be
for the wheel to run off it's axle when
securely fastened thereon But a fail
ure to comply with the laws of har-
mony which we already know is not
going to attune us to higher symptom
les. A beautiful and consoling thought
it, that if we are living in strict and
very careful obedience to the best that
we know now, it is sure to follow that
we shall become better able to distin-
guish between good and evil, between
wrong thoughts and deeds which lead
to distress and suffering and right
thoughts and deeds which lead to peace
and harmony. We are always ready to
contemplate the magnitude of the sue
cess that would have been ours in ma
terial or spiritual attainment if only
our environments had afforded us the
same chances and opportunities that
some others have had. We feel that if
we had not been deprived of certain
educational or other advantages, we
might today grace some position Of
dignity and power far above our pres
ent one.
Must Practice to Gain
Perhaps this is true. Yet, many of
those who have left US the most ad-
mirable examples have been men and
women whose childhood was spent
watching the hillside flock or splitting
the rails of the backwoods. The crown
of triumph and achievement was placed
upon their brow after they had ira
versed the long road of quiet doing and
being and living, of putting into prac-
tice all Of the good and beautiful and
true which f1eeting glimpses into books
and into nature had revealed to them.
We must practice what we know if we
would gain even worldly success, and
this is no less true with respect to our
spiritual progress.
Let us, along with our daily prayer
in which we invoke more light, also
pray that We may plant our feet more
firmly and securely in the path of light
which is already visible, even though
the light may shine but little way
into the darkness.
Christian Science Teaches Truth
The advent of Christian Science has
awakened mankind nightly to the
Importance of putting into practice
Christ's teachings, and has proven
mans ability to obey His instructions.
1t is a great and marvellous thing for
the Christian to adhere as strictly as
possible to the pure, loving counsel
given in the Sermon on the Mount as
he understands it now. 1t is even more
wonderful for the Christian Scientist
to obey those instructions of. Jesus to
heal the sick, etc., as given in the last
chapter of Mark. The sending forth of
his disciples "to preach the kingdom of
God and to heal the sick'' seems equiv
alent to sending them forth to preach
and to practice. The preaching of
Christ'S doctrines was the giving out
1A krsY1N vI,sI l., Il