Article March 11, 1922 Issue

Loyalty and Harmony

J. WILL CARR

The dictionary defines loyalty as the being "faithful to one's sovereign, obedient;" and harmony as "agreement in relation." In the case of a series of musical chords of differing sounds, each note must be obedient to a rule or fundamental law; then "agreement in relation" follows as the resultant harmony. So in Christian Science each individual to demonstrate harmony must acknowledge God, the divine Principle, as his absolute and only sovereign and render Him implicit obedience in accordance with the Scriptures, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

This obedience to divine Principle in daily life is the demonstration of the real or spiritual man's at-one-ment with divine Principle; and when all men are actively and consciously engaged in this demonstration, "agreement in relation," or the complete harmony of all (which exists now in reality) will be increasingly manifested among men. Thus from that loyalty which demonstrates the at-one-ment with Principle, mankind will reach harmony, or heaven, which Mrs. Eddy defines in Science and Health (p. 587) as "the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul." Loyalty to Principle, however, involves as its main condition an understanding of Principle. No soldier, for example, is able to obey commands which are given him in a language with which he is unfamiliar, or the meaning of which he imperfectly understands. For the student of Christian Science this means that he must continue earnestly the study of the language and the commands of Spirit, must learn to think in terms of Spirit, instead of matter, and thus endeavor to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

The constant study of the Bible in conjunction with the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, and of the other works by the same author, together with the persistent effort to put into practice in daily life the results of such prayerful study, will gradually, yet surely, increase the student's understanding of divine Principle. In this way he will enlarge his capacity for obedience, gain a clearer realization of the at-one-ment, and be enabled finally to complete his course with joy, reaching ultimately the realm where the false sense of unreality vanishes in the presence of all that is real.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

The Great Commandment