Article February 21, 1920 Issue

Self-Will versus Dominion

IVA MARIE LIMIEU

The certainty of divine inheritance was made known to humanity by Christ Jesus when he said, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;" and because of the fixity of the belief of mortals to-day that there is another power besides God, it is well to know that the converse of this immortal message is equally true. In the first chapter of Genesis, after the recording of the revelation of man's spiritual existence, the first gift made by divine Love to man was dominion; hence we may know that wherever this is recognized, accepted, and utilized, it is God-given. What is it that seems to deprive man of this continuous unfolding of good which Paul referred to as "the fruit of the Spirit"?

The answer is revealed to the student through growth in understanding of the teachings of Christian Science. It is found that there has been either a supine resignation to the claims of sickness and sin or an aggressive opposition unsupported by any understanding of divine Mind. Until it is learned that it is necessary to discard every method of the human mind, what this God-given dominion includes is not fully manifested, even by those who have turned from material means when in need of help. The proof of this fact was brought to the writer when a friend was in need of replacing sickness with health. The friend was a beginner in the study of Christian Science and the only member of her family interested. Three of the others had accepted every symptom of an epidemic and had used material remedies for several days. When it became apparent that she, too, was manifesting symptoms of the disease, she seemed unable to help herself through what she knew of Christian Science, because her thought was momentarily clouded by disappointment, showing itself in a fear of defeat, for she said, "I was just determined not to take this malady—and how could I get it when the desire was to prove that Christian Science prevents as well as cures disease?" To this disturbed thought was brought the assurance that the expectation of the power of Truth was correct and that had not fear and self-will entered, the hope would certainly have been realized. With this encouragement, coupled with the knowledge of the presence of God, good, the healing occurred instantaneously.

To the one bearing witness to the power of Truth came a deeper meaning than ever before of the word "dominion." Was not the failure in the first instance to make a fuller proof of the power of Truth because the sense of self-willed determination had been accepted, rather than the recognition of man's God-given dominion? Is it not the same false sense that argues through our loved ones and friends to-day: "Yes, I know God made me, but He also gave me an intelligence that shows me how to take care of myself. That is why I have to be careful about food, air, and exercise." This determination to take care of one's self, irrespective of God and His laws, is the error that is leading humanity to-day into the use of material means and methods for overcoming sickness and sin and away from the true sense of protection, which means their God-given dominion over every condition or circumstance.

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