Editorial December 4, 1909 Issue

A RELIGION OF DOING

Archibald McLellan

Some young Christian Scientists—as well as some who are old enough to know better—seem to entertain the belief that because God is good, they have nothing to do in shaping their human lives but to sit back and state this fact in a sort of automatic way; or, in other words, they expect to reap a harvest without having done the preliminary planting and watering which are as necessary as the sunshine to produce satisfactory fruitage.

The Master, near the close of that wonderful Sermon on the Mount, warned his disciples against the dangers of mere profession, saying, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Again and again was he insistent upon the necessity of activity—the doing of the will of the Father which filled his own earthly career to the very end with lovind ministries to humanity. The apostle Paul added a word of reassurance when he wrote to the Galatians, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." So, too, Mrs. Eddy, in one of her messages writes, "The song of Christian Science is, 'Work—work—work—watch and pray' " (Messages to The Mother Church, p. 20), and in Science and Health (p. 3) she says, "Who would stand before a blackboard. and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution."

Many who embrace Christian Science and believe in it because it has healed them, do not seem to grasp this idea of the necessity for personal activity, and continue in a state of mere passive receptivity for years. Whenever they are sick or in trouble, they depend upon some practitioner for help, and in so doing they fail to avail themselves of the very greatest benefit that could come to them, namely, the working out of their own salvation.

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