Article July 6, 1918 Issue

Guidance and Law

SAMUEL JOHNSTONE MACDONALD

No experience is trivial. No manifestation of truth can be insignificant. God being eternal and infinite Truth, every concept of truth must be apprehension of the infinite, a step toward that knowledge which is life eternal. As in mathematics the same basic law is proved whether we figure in units or millions; as in music the law of harmony appears as truly in a simple chord as in the full diapason of a mighty chorus; as truth dwells in an elementary statement equally as in the most profound; so spiritual law may be recognized as clearly in the sustenance of one of the smallest of the fowls of the air as in the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness. Likewise in individual experience the omnipresence and omnipotence of divine Love is revealed as fully in some familiar daily action as in some so-called great emergency; in the purveyance of daily food as in the more dramatic and spectacular "hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach." In the same manner as the falling apple revealed to the observant eye and attentive thought of Newton the mode of action now familiarly known as the law of gravitation, and as the daily commonplace of the steaming kettle spoke to the inquiring mind of Watts of the dynamic energy of steam; so to the thoughtful student of Christian Science is made visible in "the trivial round, the common task," the ever present universal law of Spirit, controlling and directing all. He thus learns it to be practicably and demonstrably true that "the Lord is King for ever and ever" and that He is indeed "the governor among the nations."

The law of guidance, as for practical convenience it may be named, may be found stated succinctly but clearly and comprehensively in Proverbs 3:6, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." In this law, it is evident at once, there are no reservations; it applies to "all thy ways," without exception. It is not reserved for what are known to men as striking events, vital emergencies, great crises, or deadly perils; it is equally operative in the simplest daily problem. As we constantly use the numeration table and its basic law in calculations which are apparently the most trivial, and are, also, equally guided by it whether the operations be elementary or abstruse, so we should learn to rely with equal confidence upon the universal law of guidance in our most familiar and intimate affairs. These surely need the direction of divine Mind to less than "Arcturus with his sons."

When the student awakes to the spiritual fact that the declaration quoted from the book of Proverbs is not a mere poetical, emotional, or ecstatic utterance, but is the clear scientific statement of an eternal, universal law, omnipresent as well as omnipotent, he begins to see that it must be operative in every detail of daily life. It cannot be otherwise. Either it is a law governing all equally and alike, or it is not a law at all and governs none. God's law, being the expression of infinite Mind, must be infinite and universal. Perceiving this, the apostle James could confidently affirm that God "giveth to all men liberally," and also that with Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning;" and the apostle Peter declared, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." It should be clear, therefore, that we are to seek and to recognize the divine guidance in every affair of our lives, in the simplest as well as in that which appears to be most momentous. A proper study of the law will, indeed, make manifest that if we cannot see its operation in our ordinary routine, we shall not find it when confronted by some heart-rending dilemma. It must be our daily reliance, or it cannot be our reliance at any time; moreover, the student will also learn that when he is constantly acknowledging, seeking, and obeying the divine guidance as the governing and controlling influence of his daily life, it will be operative to guard and guide him even when he has not consciously sought guidance. In those actions which are commonly said to be instinctive, intuitive, unconscious, or automatic, he will still find the law of divine guidance in control. This law will not only be a pillar of fire to illumine the ways which seem to be dark and obscure, but will also be a pillar of cloud to warn and stay when human sense might believe the way ahead to be clear and safe. "We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture," said the psalmist. The sheep may think that it has strayed beyond the shepherd's watchful care and is left to its own poor, foolish guidance, but presently it finds that the good shepherd "seeketh that which is gone astray." It will be found then that no events is trivial, no way insignificant; but that we must at all times and in all our ways seek of God, Spirit, watch and ward, guarding and guidance. We will thus be well assured that, as our revered Leader so beautifully and lovingly writes on page 234 of Miscellany, "God will ... guide them every step of the way from human affection to spiritual understanding, from faith to achievement, from light to Love, from sense to Soul."

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