Chapter ten of First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany is a
collection of timely instructions for the student of Christian Science from their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy.
We learn that filling our thoughts with “Truth
and Love” (p. 210) benefits others; that ignoring error is not Christian
Science (p. 210-211); that children should look to “advance in the knowledge of
self-support, and see the need of self-culture” (p. 216). We -also learn that
the study of Christian Science provides opportunities for progressive
advancement (p 217-8), and that we should not disobey the laws of the land in
regard to vaccination (p. 219). And I was most interested to read her paragraph
about China (p. 234), which includes the sentence: “Silent prayer in and for a
heathen nation is just what is needed.”
But
what stays with me at this reading
is her reference to John Milton’s classic
saying: “They also serve who only stand and wait” (p. 224). This helpful phrase comes from a sonnet by
John Milton (d. 1674). There is at least
one article about Milton in the Christian Science periodicals. One, penned in
1956, begins with this paragraph:
John Milton, one of England's
great poets, was eleven when the Pilgrims sailed for America. His father,
disinherited for becoming a Protestant, made a sufficiently good living as a
scrivener to provide his son with a fine education: a tutor in his early years,
St. Paul's school. and seven years at Christ's College. Cambridge. An expert
musician— both a composer and a performer —the father taught his son to sing
and to play the organ. - See Mrs.
Eddy Mentioned Them: John Milton, 1608-1674 [Mentioned in Science and Health, p. 372] in the June
9, 1956 issue of the Christian
Science Sentinel.
The dictionary
tells me that to stand means: to
take or keep an upright position on the feet; to stop moving; to take a
position; while to wait means to
rest, to be ready, to serve.
Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings p. 158: 19-22) "As of old, I stand with sandals on and staff in hand, waiting for the watchword and the revelation of what, how, whither."
In pondering this,
I am reminded that the Bible offers some direction in the following passages:
–
Ex
14:13 ¶ And Moses
said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you
to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no
more for ever.
–
Mark
3:3 And he saith
unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
–
I
Cor 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the
faith, quit you like men, be strong.
– Hab
2:3 For the
vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not
lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
–
Readers may also be
interested in the following articles from jsh-online.com:
"They also serve" by PRISCILLA W. OKIE October
29, 1927 issue the Christian Science Sentinel includes
this helpful idea: “Scientific waiting
is not idleness.”
"A Spiritual Symphony" by ELSIE C. WISE October
28, 1922 issue the Christian Science Sentinel likens a
church membership (and by extrapolation I would suggest any entity) to a
symphony orchestra in which each member’s individual contribution is necessary
to the execution of the whole.
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