Article July 31, 1920 Issue

Fulfillment

FRANK BARNDOLLAR

Never has there been any doubt as to man having a specific duty to perform upon all occasions and under every manifested condition; just what that duty was or how it was to be performed has, however, very often seemed a conundrum. Perhaps the greatest stumbling-block in the way of earnest seekers after the correct solution of a problem and how to obtain this solution, has been that very mortal inclination to believe that one's self is most responsible for the solution. Our Master stated definitely the specific duty and purpose of man on more than one occasion. In the gospel of John, we read of Jesus being persecuted by the Jews at the pool Bethesda. He had healed an impotent man on the Sabbath day and in answer to their condemnation asserted, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jews being the more angered and seeking to kill him, brought forth further explanation from our great Way-shower, who continued, "Verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." Herein did Jesus state most clearly the rule and Principle of Christian Science,—the absolute statement that God is the only power capable of being demonstrated by man, and that through this reflection of infinite goodness and strength man is performing the only duty he is capable of performing. Accompanying this absolute statement goes also the denial of all self-assertiveness,—"The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do,"—thus silencing the mortal inclination to believe in the possession of any power apart from God.

Mrs. Eddy, on page 475 of Science and Health, exposes this lie of mortality and clearly states the relationship between God and man. "Man is idea," she says, "the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness; the conscious identity of being as found in Science, in which man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker." As we realize from whence come our strength and power, and appreciate the value of this possession, brighter and happier becomes our sense of living. The fear of the loss of power or the lessening of authority is obliterated, and the determination to perform the duty of demonstration makes itself evident. Mortal ambitions and vanities are overshadowed by the joy of self-abnegation and the happiness of harmony and love for all mankind. The joy of fulfillment is predominant; gladness prevails that God's strength and power and love are ever present and omnipotent.

Thus also do we become conscious of the full significance of Jesus' admonition when one of his disciples would have turned back to bury his father. When the disciple would have followed the custom and means of adjusting matters in those days, he was admonished by his Master, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." Let mortality, this dream of existence apart from spirituality, bury itself; leave nothingness to be taken care of by nothingness, and let those who have an understanding of spirituality hasten on in the demonstration of life eternal. Our duty of to-day, like theirs of yesterday, is to hasten heavenward and not turn aside to listen to the suggestions of mortality.

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