Article July 3, 1915 Issue

Obedience

M. EVELYN LINCOLN

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," were the words of one who well knew how to lift the burdens of mankind. Christ Jesus saw the strenuous labor self-imposed by the belief in materiality; he saw the hearts sorely laden with sin, sorrow, and with the fear of death, and out of his great love for those about him he uttered those compassionate words: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." His yoke is obedience. He obeyed God in every little daily item until, step by step, his strength increased and he was enabled to pass through Gethsemane to the cross.

Obedience pointed the way to the resurrection morn, and to spiritual ascension of thought above mortal vision. By scaling the rugged peaks of temptation, poverty, fear, desolateness, persecution, and every other error, Jesus reached the heights where he stood superior to any emergency or seeming trouble pertaining to human experience. From these heights fell his gentle words of comfort and strength, his marvelous works, and his loving invitations to every one to follow him out of the valley of materiality up to an understanding of God, our Father. But even he whom Mrs. Eddy calls "the most scientific man that ever trod the globe" (Science and Health, p. 313), must have felt something of the human shrinking from material torture. Here is a needed lesson for each one of us,—that we should not fall into discouragement and self-condemnation if we cannot at once accept cheerfully the cup which he drank to the dregs, and we must not forget that full obedience means that we are to rejoice always.

To take his yoke of obedience upon us is to level pride, resentment, and rebellion against God's will, and make us "meek and lowly in heart." Then, and not until then, do we attain to his rest. It is not the Father's will to make His children suffer. What would we think of a human parent who chastised his child just to show the power of his will? The God that Christian Science reveals to the world is merciful, loving, kind, and tender. We are chastened when we are wilful and headstrong, that we may be brought into closer relationship with divine Truth. When we make mistakes, experience teaches us to depend upon divine wisdom in every strait, and not to fear what mortal mind can do to us; thus ignorance is removed and we awaken to a better understanding of the law of Love. The sole need of chastisement is that the mesmeric power of material belief may be broken, so that thought may turn away from personality and become obedient to spiritual law.

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