Article October 23, 1920 Issue

True Liberty

HAZEL ZIMMERMAN

Liberty , in its generally accepted sense, means freedom from bondage or as a dictionary defines it, "the state or fact of being free ... opposed to bondage." Through the study of the Scriptures, where the use of the word liberty is frequent, and through the thoughtful consideration of its spiritual significance as used by Mrs. Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" liberty comes to have an entirely new meaning, one which brings to the earnest student of Christian Science a realization of the dominion that is the inevitable result of apprehending the true idea of liberty. Embracing as it does only that which is real, that which is of God, good, and rejecting that which is unreal, the counterfeit of good, true liberty must be infinite—that which is, now and forever. It must be always present, because being infinite it could never be absent. It must be complete, because nothing can be taken from or added to that which is infinite; and because infinity is never for a moment without its complete and perfect expression, man, it follows that man must reflect, express, and know all there is to know about true liberty. The ever presence of liberty having been established, the consciousness of its ever presence must be apparent to man now.

When Christ Jesus sent the seventy disciples about the Father's business he gave them this instruction: "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Every one of the seventy had to make that instruction his own by proving the truth of it for himself before he could demonstrate that truth in the breaking of bonds for another. Doubtless patience, perseverance, and courage were requisite in the proving, but when the seventy returned from the scenes of their labors they came rejoicing in their knowledge that the Christidea, the demonstrable truth which they practiced, gave them dominion over every false belief that attempted to call itself a reality. By refusing to entertain it as consciousness they had proved the "power of the enemy" powerless—no power. Small wonder they rejoiced in the eternal truth they had established as a law of liberty for those unto whom they ministered.

It was James, one of the twelve loved disciples whom Jesus taught, who recognized liberty as a law of God, when he wrote in his epistle to the brethren, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James knew that he who would prove his God-given dominion must do so by his works, not words, and continue in those works according to the direction of Principle. In the measure that he proves Principle to be in all his affairs, in that measure is he demonstrating the perfect law of liberty, and he is blessed. How simple it is to recognize and apply this perfect law after we have listened for and heard the "still small voice" of Principle. How logically it follows that obedience to Principle always blesses. Then James' admonition is that we should never neglect or delay taking the problem straight to Principle, that we should never forget to listen for the guidance of the "still small voice"—"being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work." We must continue in (be constant in) our work of proving our right to liberty to be divine. Principle does not mean that we shall rest on the oars of one demonstration, while another more subtle form of evil may be preparing to draw our boat into the whirlpool of false belief, or force it against the rocks of self-satisfaction, or draw it into the stagnant waters of ease in matter. We need to be constantly alert to the responsibilities our right to the law of liberty involves and guard it zealously so that apathy may not trick us into sacrificing it. It is interesting to see how Paul's sense of liberty is stated in his concise metaphysical way, showing his knowledge of the operation of divine law in correcting the false belief of bondage. It is significant that he says, "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Because the false belief which would call itself "I"—the belief of life in matter—is proved to be the suppositional opposite of the only "I" there is, infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, man is found to exist in the universe of God's creating as God's perfect and indestructible idea.

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