"No," I said. "Was what I said as far off the track as that?"
"Farther. Your remark would be something like this:—'The principal thing about a big steamship and its trip is that the officers and sail: ors do not wear frock coats.'"
I know I looked foolish.
"Now listen just a minute, Chet," he went on, "I want to correct this idea of yours. The simile is not nearly perfect; but it will serve. In the first place, the principal thing about Christian Science is not negative, as you put it, something that they don't do. Nothing could stand upon a negative principle. In the second place, neither is the principal thing the fact that they heal without medicine, as you probably intended to imply. There is something as much greater back of the physical healing, as the intelligence which handles the great ship is greater than that which shows where to find it."
I pondered for a few minutes. "That sounds interesting," I said.
"It is," said Uncle Rob. "It is the most interesting and fascinating study in the world, and