The unfoldment

Preface

In placing this book upon the market, I am merely answering a persistent call from the field relative to the light on the various subjects handled. This call for light comes through letter and also in person and the conversation in the book is typical of hundreds that have taken place in my office between patients, practitioners, teachers, other truth seekers and myself.

The enlightenment and help that have come to my visitors from these simple talks induced me to place them in book form so that all who desired enlightenment on these questions could be benefited.

It will be apparent at once to the reader that Walter Williams is merely a transposition of my own name.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Appointment 7

II. Why and How 38

III. Emergence into the Light ... 74

IV. The Sickle 121

V. Class Teaching 157

Chapter I

Mr. Walter Williams, author, and teacher of Christian Science, was sitting at the desk in his private office, busily engaged in answering a mass of correspondence that lay before him, when he heard the door bell ring. He paused in his work a moment, and upon hearing someone go to answer the bell, he resumed his writing.

A moment later, he heard somebody enter the reception room, and say: "I am Mrs. Viloxon of Chicago. I had an appointment with Mr. Williams for two o'clock."

"Yes, he is expecting you, and if you will excuse me I will notify him of your arrival. Please be seated," was the answer.

A few minutes later, Mr. Williams opened the door connecting his private office with the reception room, and stepping through the doorway, he saw a well dressed woman seated in an easy rocker. As she turned toward him he observed that her face was drawn, as though with worry or pain.

The lady arose and asked: "Is this Mr. Williams?"

A pleasant smile came to his face as he answered: u Yes, I am Mr. Williams, and you are Mrs. Viloxon?"

"Yes, I am Mrs. Clara Viloxon, Christian Science practitioner of Chicago." As she said this, there was just a trace of pride in her actions and words.

Extending his hand in welcome, Mr. Williams said: "I am pleased to meet you. Please step into my private office so that we may talk, undisturbed. I suppose you came to keep your appointment."

"Yes," she replied.

Placing a rocker, Mr. Williams added: "Take this seat, you will find it very comfortable."

The visitor took the chair indicated, and as she seated herself, quietly said: "I thank you."

For several moments neither spoke, and it was evident to Mrs. Viloxon that Mr. Williams was closely studying her face, though not wishing to appear to do so.

Scarcely knowing what to say, but with an evident desire to break the silence, Mrs. Viloxon remarked: "Well, I am here."

"So I see," said Mr. Williams.

Leaning forward and looking up sharply, Mrs. Viloxon remarked: "It took a mighty effort on my part to come to your office in broad daylight, for if some of my Science friends should see me, it would cause me a great deal of trouble. That is why I wrote you for an evening interview. I consider my coming a wonderful demonstration."

"So you think your coming to my office a wonderful demonstration?"

"Yes, I do, don't you?"

There was a serious expression on the face of Mr. Williams, as he slowly shook his head and quietly said : "No" ; then added : "However, let the matter rest there for the present. I am ready to hear the nature of your mission."

There was a little show of both excitement and resentment as Mrs. Viloxon said, quite positively: "But I do consider my coming a big demonstration, and would like to know your reason for not considering it such."

Mr. Williams faced his visitor squarely, and said very calmly: "If we allow ourselves to get excited and enter into controversy, our time will be wasted, and no good will accrue to either of us. Have you never heard it said, that we cannot gain new ideas from those who fully agree with us, because if we are in agreement no new ideas are brought forth? Therefore, it is from those who do not always agree with us, that we must learn. It is also a fact that an excited or angry man cannot reason clearly; therefore, if we wish to gain knowledge, we must remain calm."

Mrs. Viloxon slowly sank back into her chair as she attempted to take a mental invoice of the calm, peaceful face before her. At length she said: "You are right, Mr. Williams; still I have always considered work of that kind as a demonstration, and so does every Scientist whom I know; and I should be pleased to have you explain your position. "

"Very well, I will explain. Your face tells me that you did not come here solely for enlightenment, but rather because you are in some kind of trouble and need help. Am I correct?"

"Yes, I came both for enlightenment and for help. I want to know more of Science, and I have a physical claim that has not yielded to my very best efforts."

"Now please answer me plainly. If you had found upon arising this morning, that you had suddenly become well, would you have come to keep this appointment?"

Mrs. Viloxon took a moment for thought, and said: "I am inclined to think that if I had found myself suddenly well, I would not have taken the time to come."

"You have spoken truthfully. This proves that your coming here is not a demonstration." "But Mr. Williams, I really did come, and cannot see that it is not a demonstration."

"You wrote me for an evening appointment, and this showed me that you were afraid to come. When I wrote you that apparently you were afraid to come to my office in daylight, it hurt your pride, and you decided not to come at all; but your claim or trouble — whatever it may be — would not yield, and gradually you feared the consequences of this ill more than you feared to come, and again you wrote for an appointment; so you are here not as a demonstration of right thinking, but because your fear of becoming seriously sick was greater than your fear of coming in daylight and being seen by other church Scientists. Your face tells me that you are honest at heart, therefore be honest with yourself. Be natural, be honest; that is, let the natural honesty of your heart hold sway, and put away the make-believe and hypocrisy which you have worn as a mask. You cannot be well, happy and harmonious while hypocrisy holds sway."

Slowly but surely what had been said entered the consciousness of Mrs. Viloxon, and at length she said: "You are right. It was not a demonstration. I came because I feared my trouble more than I feared the coming, but I am no hypocrite because I truly believed my coming was a demonstration."

"Did you ever look up Webster's definition of the word 'hypocrite' ?"

"No, I don't think I have looked up the meaning in recent years, because I know what the word means."

"Let me cite you Webster's definition. It is: 4 One who feigns to be what he is not; one — ' "

"Yes, I know the meaning," broke in Mrs. Viloxon; then added: "But I am not a hypocrite."

"Please let me finish the definition, — 'One who has the form of godliness without the power, or who assumes the appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.' Do any of these fit your case?"

"No, for I am no hypocrite."

"Very well. Will you now tell me why you asked for an appointment?" asked Mr. Williams.

"Yes, and that you may understand my problem correctly I feel that I should like to tell you some things, may I?"

"Yes, tell the whole story plainly, if you wish."

"Thank you. I was married at an early age, and shortly after our marriage, my husband took a very dangerous position, and I was in constant dread that some day he would be brought home to me, dead. This condition continued until I became a nervous wreck, and one day the expected happened. The shock was so great that all despaired of my ever getting well again; but after some months, a friend mentioned Christian Science, and I determined to try it; and through months of treatment, I was fully restored. Next, I took class instruction and devoted myself to the healing field. For three or four years I was very successful, but gradually, as time went on, I awoke to the fact that my cases were not responding as in the early years; and now, after being in the practice for twenty-seven years, I am not at all satisfied with my ability to heal. To make matters worse, my old nervousness and worry have come back, and are leaving their marks upon my face and body so plainly that I cannot longer hide them from my patients; for a few weeks ago, one of them remarked about my appearance. If this continues I shall lose all my practice. "

As Mrs. Viloxon paused in her recital, Mr. Williams thought, u the same old story I" Addressing her, he asked: "What led you to come to me?"

"I will tell you," and then looking away she said: "Of course, Mr. Williams, you are aware that we Chicago practitioners do not consider you a loyal Scientist. I have been to my teacher, and other practitioners for help, but received none, in this particular problem. A friend whom you healed some years ago, told me she was positive that you could heal me, so I came."

Mr. Williams asked: "Have you ever read any of my writings on Christian Science?"

"You know, Mr. Williams, as loyal church Scientists we are forbidden to read your books; but when I could not seem to get the understanding necessary to heal myself, from Mrs. Eddy's works and the periodicals, I decided to secretly read some of your writings; not with the intention of being disloyal to the church, understand, but to find healing for myself."

Mr. Williams bowed his head as he slowly said: "Yes, I understand fully."

"I appealed to this friend, and she gave me two of your 'Plain Talk Series' to read. While I do not fully agree with all that you have written there, yet I seemed to get the idea that you had a deep understanding of Christian Science, and might be able to help me."

Assuming a serious look, Mr. Williams asked: "If I were to heal you, would you go back to your friends and patients, and tell them that you were healed through the Williams' method of applying Christian Science?"

A look of great fear overspread the face of Mrs. Viloxon as she leaned back in her chair and trembled visibly, as she said : "Oh, Mr. Williams ! I could not do that."

"Not even if your health and happiness depended upon it?" he asked.

"I am afraid not," came the answer in a very weak voice.

Looking squarely at Mrs. Viloxon, Mr. Williams said with deep sympathy, "I am really sorry for you, and for the thousands of other practitioners in Science. Why, you all fear your church organization, and your brother and sister practitioners more than you did the devil of your old religion. I would not have that fear yoke on my neck for all the money in the world."

"But Mr. Williams, how would I get along? How would I make my living, if my patients all left me?"

"There now, that is the honesty in your heart coming to the top again. You are not loyal to the church because you feel it right, but because you will perhaps lose your livelihood if you are considered disloyal."

"Oh, I don't know what to say to you! But of one thing I am certain, — I cannot go on day after day with this fear and worry and nervousness making me too wretched to live, — yet I see no way out of it."

"Mrs. Viloxon, did it ever occur to you that perhaps a practitioner who was considered disloyal could make a good living in the practice?"

"No, it never has."

"Do I look poor and in want; sickly, worried and fearful?"

"No, you look just the reverse."

"Yet I am in the practice; and you yourself said that I was considered a disloyal Scientist, — whatever that may mean to those who use the term."

"But loyal Christian Scientists will not come to me after I am called disloyal."

"They will not? Let us see. You are a so-called loyal Christian Scientist, yet you came to me, a so-called disloyal Scientist.''

The smile she saw on Mr. Williams' face was so reassuring and kindly, that she could not help smiling herself, as she said: "But I am only one."

"Yes you are only one, but one of a thousand," said Mr. Williams with a quiet laugh.

"Do you mean that there are many practitioners and patients who are church members who come to you?"

"Yes, very many. In fact, nearly all who come to me are or were so-called loyal church members."

"From Chicago, too?" asked Mrs. Viloxon.

"Yes, from all over the United States, and also some from foreign countries."

"I am surprised."

"I am not. You know the old saw, that you cannot fool all the people all the time. When they have tried all that the church has to offer and are not relieved, they wisely look further. Also, someone has truly said that if you have something that the world wants, the people will wear a beaten path to your door, even though you are located in a wilderness."

"And I thought I was the only one," said Mrs. Viloxon with a queer little smile.

"Come, we are wasting time; you must decide. Do you want to remain a so-called loyal Christian Science church Scientist, and live in dread and fear of the organization all your life? Or do you want to become free, a real Christ Scientist, and stand upon your own understanding of the Facts of Life?"

"Oh, I want to be well and happy again, but why can't you heal me and let me remain with the church, as formerly?"

"I never asked any one to leave any church, and shall not ask you to do so. In fact, I would prefer that you do not leave the church at once, but stay with it until the church idea leaves you, which it ought to do, but never will, as long as you are content to retain the position of servant instead of striving daily to rise to the position of master. To gain your healing and rise to higher consciousness you must be honest with yourself, else you cannot succeed."

"I do not understand you, Mr. Williams."

"I will explain. Mrs. Eddy says that the keynote of Christian Science is 'Be not afraid,' and the Bible teaches that Tear hath torment.' You have come to me with a so-called nervous trouble which seemingly is destroying your health and harmony. I have diagnosed this trouble metaphysically, and find that the mental error responsible, and which needs to be destroyed, is dread, fear and hypocrisy."

"Dread and fear perhaps, hypocrisy, never! How can you say that?" and there was a flash of indignation in her tone.

Mr. Williams, in his calm, smooth voice, said: "Is it not hypocritical to pretend that you are a great healer, when you know that your ability to heal has vanished? Is it not hypocritical to stand before your patients as a well woman, when you know that you are on the verge of nervous collapse? Is it not hypocritical to pretend to be a loyal church member, and then seek for healing outside of the church? Is it not hypocritical to forbid your patients to read any other literature than Mrs. Eddy's works and the church periodicals, and you yourself spend hours in the reading and study of so-called unauthorized literature? Is it not hypocritical — "

"Please don't, Mr. Williams," exclaimed Mrs. Viloxon, as she put her hand to her face in shame.

"Very well. But let us understand each other, and above all, let us be honest and natural. You are honest at heart and I honestly want to help you. It cannot be done while one or the other is pretending. You investigated long and carefully before you came to me. You found that I was more successful than the others. You became convinced that I had an understanding of the

Truth of Life beyond those of the church whom you had employed, including your teacher. Yet you did not wish to give me credit, or let me know that you had been investigating. Am I not right ?"

"Yes, but please remember, I did it merely to regain my health."

"Yes, I know. If things had continued smoothly with you, you would never have stopped your, shall I say, hypocritical life. This points to the truth of the statement that 'man's extremity is God's opportunity.' The law of Life is such that all will sooner or later find it necessary to be absolutely honest with self and their fellow man, if they wish to be well and happy."

"I must regain my health; I cannot live this way longer. If I resign from the church, and study your works alone, will you give me treatment and heal me?"

"No ! I will not give you treatment in the sense that you have of giving treatment. I have not taken on any cases for mere treatment, for the past three years. Neither would it be necessary for you to leave your church or confine yourself to the study of my writings."

"I do not understand, Mr. Williams."

"No, none of the older church Scientists understand me. If they did, they would never again say a word against the work that I am striving to accomplish. I am not trying to tear down the Christian Science church, neither am I trying to start a movement of my own; but I am striving to unveil the veiled Truth and make it so plain that everybody, both in and out of the Christian Science church, can understand and apply it to the overcoming of their troubles, be they sin, sickness or poverty."

"Then I would not need to leave the church to be healed under your method of applying Christian Science?"

"No, and neither would the member of any other church need to leave their church to be healed. I was healed while still affiliated with another church. I have healed Catholic and Protestant, Chinaman and American, and never in all the years of my healing work have I asked any one to leave their church."

"But did they all continue in their old churches ?"

"No, very few continued in their old religious beliefs for any length of time, after being healed; especially those who came to me for present treatment, for then I was able to make the facts of Life so plain, that they saw the ridiculousness of their former church beliefs, and deserted them."

"Then you are not opposed to the people belonging to churches?"

"No, I am not opposed to those going to church who feel they need the church; but I am opposed to the idea advanced by some churches, that you can get into heaven only through some certain church."

"Mr. Williams, I fear I have been narrow in regard to my church thought, but I am not entirely to blame, for I was in a great measure following the lead of my teacher. Now I want to be honest with myself, and get well, and I would thank you if you would point the way for me. I don't wish to be a hypocrite, and not until you laid the proof plainly before me, could I even surmise that I was hypocritical; and even yet, I do not see how my action regarding the church has any thing to do with my illness."

"I will show you. You stated that after your marriage and after your husband had taken up a hazardous occupation, you were much disturbed, and were in constant dread and fear that something terrible would happen to him. Perhaps you do not know that when Job said : 'The thing I feared most has come upon me,' he was stating a mental law."

u Why no, I never thought of this statement as a law," said Mrs. Viloxon, with some surprise.

"It is a mental Law. You will remember that Mrs. Eddy quotes Shakespeare's statement, 'There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.' On page 415 of 'Science and Health,' we read: 'Note how thought makes the face pallid. It either retards the circulation or quickens it, causing a pale or flushed cheek. In the same way thought increases or diminishes the secretions, the action of the lungs, of the bowels, and of the heart.' This shows that Mrs. Eddy taught that thought is causative. Right thought produces right results, such as health and success, while sick thought produces sickness. This being the case, it can readily be seen why the thing you fear most must come upon you, because whatever you fear most you think most of, and thus you actually create such a condition."

u Mr. Williams, you astonish me. If that be true, I was in a great measure to blame for the ill that befell my husband."

"I am not saying anything about that. I only wish to point out to you the great part which fear thought plays in bringing evil upon us. Your dread, fear and worry kept your mentality constantly discordant. This inharmony of the mentality, in your case, was shown in the body as the trouble that we call nervousness. Later, after the accident happened, and you had somewhat recovered from the shock, the cause of the mental discord (the fear of accident to your husband) being removed, your mentality took on a quieter mood and you recovered or became normal again."

"Oh, but I was healed through the treatment given me by a Christian Science practitioner."

"No doubt the harmonious thought of the practitioner helped you to arrive at normality; but had you attempted to become healed while constantly fearing for the safety of your husband, this very same practitioner could not have helped you permanently, unless in some way he could have allayed your fear concerning your husband, for this was the erring 'thought cause."

"I never looked at it in that light before. But why has this condition returned, for the circumstance which you say was the cause in the first place, is not in evidence now?" asked Mrs. Viloxon.

"No, not the very same thought condition, but one just like it."

"I don't understand/' replied Mrs. Viloxon.

"Your former nervous illness was caused by a state of constant dread and fear — the fear that something would happen to your husband. In the present instance, you have a dread and fear that something is going to happen to you. You are in almost constant fear that some one connected with the church organization, or your teacher, or some one else, will bring forth the charge that you are disloyal and thus result in your dismissal; and that, because of this, you may lose your practice, and your livelihood."

"I believe I see a little light," said Mrs. Viloxon, slowly.

"Your fear of being called disloyal or of being excommunicated from the church amounts almost to a mental panic, as it does with most of the church members, and especially the listed practitioners. Mrs. Eddy said that the keynote of Christian Science is 'Be not afraid'; but the cold justice or, as some state, injustice, that has been meted out by the church authorities, constitutes the greatest creator of fear that any organization ever conjured forth with which to govern its membership. I know from experience, and I would not again be under that church yoke of fear for all the world. Your present illness is nothing but the external expression of your fear of the organization, and that is why your various practitioners could not heal you, for they kept manufacturing beliefs which gave you more fear of the organization. Surely, 'Fear hath torment'."

For a full minute there was silence in the office, as Mrs. Viloxon mentally digested what had been said. Then she looked up and said, quite positively: "I believe you are right."

"Oh, I know I am right," said Mr. Williams. "You are not the first one whom I have healed of serious illness, merely by destroying for them the fear of the organization.

"The nature of fear is such that it makes no difference what the procuring cause is, be it fear of church or even fear of God; the fear disturbs the normal harmonious status of the mentality, and disturbed mental harmony, sooner or later, has its effect or manifestation on the body as sickness; and the ill, will continue as a so-called physical ailment until the fear has been destroyed.' '

u Yes, I know that Mrs. Eddy says that 'Be not afraid' is the keynote of Christian Science; but it never occurred to my thought that fear of being disciplined or excommunicated could be classed as that kind of fear, but I am inclined to believe that you are right because every time I heard of some one being disciplined or excommunicated, it made me more fearful and nervous."

"There is no question about it. On page 421, latest edition of 'Science and Health,' line 5, you find these words of Mrs. Eddy: 'Derangement, or disarrangement, is a word which conveys the true definition of all human belief in ill-health, or disturbed harmony.' Now it matters not, whether the disturbed harmony is caused by your fear of being excommunicated, or of losing your husband, the fear causes the disturbed harmony just the same and the result is, ill-health. Now answer me honestly, ever since you had your name listed as a practitioner, there is scarcely anything that you fear more than being excommunicated or being called disloyal, is there ?"

Mrs. Viloxon took time for careful thought, then answered: "For years I have had a latent fear of those in authority and since the excommunication of so many prominent Christian Scientists, I have had a constant and growing fear of being disciplined either by the Mother church or the local church of which I am a member, and an actual dread that I might unconsciously disobey some of the by-laws in the Manual, and that some one not friendly to me might charge me with disloyalty and thus ruin my practice."

"Oh, that Manual!" said Mr. Williams, with a look of deep disgust, then continued: "You know, that Manual reminds me of a mental cato-nine tails, to whip the more fearless thinkers into servitude; the same as the slave drivers of olden times used to beat their slaves into deeper subjection through repeated use of the cat-o-nine tails.''

"A mental cat-o-nine tails ! I don't think I ever heard that expression before."

"Perhaps not, but that Manual was an instrument of torture (mental torture) to me the first few years that I was a member of the organization. I was in constant mental dread and fear that I would be disciplined and called disloyal, and that because of this, the little money I had, which was all invested in my books, would be lost; and also that I would lose my practice upon which I was depending for a livelihood. It certainly was an instrument of mental torture to me."

"I don't know that I ever analyzed my thought as carefully as that, but I do have the fear that I might unintentionally transgress some of the by-laws, and be called disloyal."

"Well, I am satisfied that that very fear, or disturbed harmony, is the cause of much of the illness that many practitioners have; and it is an experience which I do not care to go through again, " said Mr. Williams.

"But you would not do away with the Manual entirely, would you? How could you govern a church without some set rules?"

"No, I would leave the church goer his Manual, but as far as I am concerned I want neither church nor Manual. Jesus never started a church, at least Mrs. Eddy wrote in her first edition of 'Science and Health,' page 118, line 25: 'Jesus paid no homage to diplomas, to forms of church worship or the theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved by Spirit, the principle of being'; and on page 166 of this same edition Mrs. Eddy wrote : 'We have no needs of creeds and church organization to sustain or explain a demonstrable platform, that defines itself in healing the sick, and casting out error.' On the same page we find this by Mrs. Eddy: 'The mistake the disciples of Jesus made to found religious organizations and church rites, if indeed they did this, was one the Master did not make.' "

"But Mr. Williams, we have no creeds or rites in the Christian Science church."

u That is what you believe, and many others have said, but is it a fact? Let us see! Webster defines the word 'Creed' to mean, 'A brief summary of the articles of faith.' On page 330 of the latest edition of 'Science and Health' you find the beginning of thirty-two articles, and Mrs. Eddy intimates that they are the platform of Christian Science. Now I cannot see that changing the name from 'creed' to 'platform' makes any difference in the matter at all. The creeds of other denominations are really their platforms, and the platform of Christian Science is really its creed."