Article August 5, 1922 Issue

Obedience

DOROTHY I. PENDLETON

While it is generally agreed that obedience is a virtue, it is not until we begin earnestly to strive for more of the Mind which was reflected also in Christ Jesus that the recognition comes that to be obedient is a necessity. The following illustration shows, in part, the way in which this growth of obedience has developed in my experience.

When a very small girl, I was many times punished for picking flowers in gardens adjoining our home. The thought was to take the pretty, bright blossoms indoors, where there were none. A lesson was learned, however, when a bouquet was taken to the teacher one day. On inquiry, she was told of a special trip being made to get them, as this garden was not on the way to school, and of reaching through the pickets of the fence to gather them. That night, the teacher accompanied me home and told the family what had taken place. I think I felt sorry that no one understood why I took them; but it became very evident that without permission I was never to touch another thing that did not belong to me.

Now, since that time I had always felt that I was quite an obedient person, until another experience unfolded to me a couple of years ago. We were on a steamer on the St. Lawrence River. In spite of the fact that there was a notice posted that the upholstered chairs in the salon were not to be moved out on the decks, by the second day quite a number of the passengers were seen comfortably seated on the decks in the chairs taken from the salon. Feeling justified thereby, I suggested to a member of the party that we, too, take chairs out on the deck. There was hardly a moment's pause, till the reply came, "There is a notice saying the chairs are not to be taken from the salon; and we must always obey the law." For the first time that I can remember there was a sense of shame for this attempted disobedience,—this unwillingness to be obedient. The fact was recognized then and there that, if I were to be a Christian Scientist, I must be obedient.

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