Article November 10, 1917 Issue

"The shadow of Peter"

MARY P. BELLINGER

In the fifth chapter of Acts we read of the healing work done by the apostles, as evidenced by this statement: "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; ... insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them."

These words recall a sermon which the writer heard many years ago. The minister used the last sentence of the above quotation for his text, and the special point of his discourse was that it was not voluntary, conscious efforts put forth by any one which really counted, but the unconscious influence for good or ill which revealed a person's true character and determined his effect upon his fellow men. This seemed a "hard saying" to accept at the time, but of late this Scripture, in the light of Christian Science teaching, has proved helpful and inspiring. One may say mentally, as did the writer years ago, that it seems most unfair that our daily voluntary efforts to put down self, to speak the truth in word and deed, to resist temptation, to be loyal to our highest conception of right,—steps which we often take with unshed tears,—should go for nothing, and that we should be judged by some involuntary act or word, when perhaps caught unaware and off guard.

Do we realize that there never would be any unconscious influence without the voluntary effort? The homely, brown roots of the rosebush, buried in the earth, ever reaching out for moisture and nourishment for the plant, are yet in large measure responsible for the fragrance at the heart of the perfect blossom in the sunshine. So it is with the true essence of spirituality. As mortals rise above material belief and their thought advances spiritually, their real influence becomes less and less a part of their human selves and more and more a power of which they are personally unconscious.

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