Reply To: The uses of His rod

[Gary]

“It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: ‘His rebuke is fearful.’” (S&H)

This reminds me of our late practitioner and teacher, Doris Evans. Whenever she detected the human mind trying to interfere with God’s government (and that was often), she would rebuke it, and her rebuke was fearful. It wasn’t always easy, but I quickly learned that the “fearful” part of her rebuke was the error, latent in my thought, that was fearing the rebuke, because that rebuke was the beginning of the destruction of the error. It is always an erroneous belief that fears the rebuke of Truth, and causing me and others to feel uncomfortable.

I didn’t always understand what needed to be corrected, but when I asked God to show me, I eventually learned a good lesson and changed with each rebuke. It took a little training, but I also learned to accept the discomfort as a necessary part of my spiritual growth. This was not easy for Mrs. Evans, as it was not easy for Mrs. Eddy or for Christ Jesus to give stern rebukes. But it was a sign of their great love for God and man that they were willing to make people feel uncomfortable in order to help them out of the mortal dream into a higher vision of the truth. We should all, as Scientists, be willing to take, and give, sharp rebukes to error.

“Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity, which are the landmarks of Science.” (S&H)