Article December 26, 1908 Issue

READINESS TO SERVE

VIOLET KER SEYMER.

The divine standard of activity is so high that only perpetual obedience can enable one to advance toward it. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 116), Mrs. Eddy says, "Never absent from your post, never off guard, never ill-humored, never unready to work for God,—is obedience." To reflect good in the midst of seeming evil is really to work for God. Is divine Mind inactive? Would not everything be at a standstill if the creator were unmindful of His creation, and disinclined to sustain and support it? Love and Life are never unready to give forth what man needs, and so the true reflection or likeness of this Mind must know no fear nor sloth, and must be equally ready to serve the needy. When courageous and consecrated witnesses to the work aleady "finished" in Mind are found, the kingdom of heaven will be established on earth, and healing will become as spontaneous and as certain as the unfolding of a flower in the sunshine. Further, when the nature of pure happiness is discerned, mortals will cease to seek its counterfeit in evil. In proportion as we discern and do God's will, it will bring heaven to us. Obedience and discernment go hand in hand, and neither can advance very far without the other.

Some may say in all good faith, "But I never get a chance to do any Christian Science work, though I am quite ready to do it." Willingness to take patients, but a secret hope that the occasion to do so may not arise, indicates a degree of unreadiness to work for God, and the would-be practitioner must beware of deciding as to the class or the quantity of work he desires to undertake. Such an attitude would preclude the full guidance which comes as the reward of full trust. When we look to Mind to map out our day, there will never be too much nor too little to do. Comparisons between workers, their methods and what they accomplish, are often misleading and discouraging. As each one seeks to be led, his best work constantly grows better. Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

Opportunities come to that one whose compassion is stirred into action by his faith in Truth's redeeming power, when we "abide in such a spiritual attitude as will draw men unto us" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 121). This should be our constant aim. Christ Jesus is the example for all time. He did not spare himself, but quickly detected any temptation to shirk, as when he prayed, "Not my will, but thine, be done," recognizing that the divine power would carry him through trial to victory. This spiritual readiness to help must be reflected by God's likeness, and when a legitimate call comes, every suggestion of incompetence, every symptom of unreadiness, every attempt to procrastinate, should be met with the thought expressed by Jesus when he was but twelve years old: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" The "business" of Mind is to act promptly. "Semper paratus is Truth's motto" (Science and Health, p. 458), and Christian Scientists are responsible for showing the world how good God's will is by doing it, and thereby give glimpses of heaven to such as seem to be in hell.

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