It is generally conceded that obedience to law is the mark of good citizenship. The good citizen is law-abiding, his thought and effort being to support and obey the laws of his country. To do this intelligently, he must be to some extent familiar with that which constitutes law and his own relationship to it, and thus be enabled to distinguish and differentiate between that which may pass as law and that which is fundamentally sound as the basic law of the land. That which is really law includes certain elements which are fixed and absolute. It must be based on divine Principle. It must be just, impartial, impersonal, not subject to variation in its provisions and operation. Government is the activity of law, the activity or operation of the essential elements which law includes.

Human laws are made for the government of humanity. So when one thinks of law, he thinks also of government; and so law and government have become almost synonymous terms. Throughout the ages mankind has been governed by what has been accepted as law, not only in its definition as the code of nations, but in its every other aspect. There has been the tendency to accept and believe in certain formulations of human thought under the names of laws of nature,—laws of anatomy, of physiology, of materia medica, and so on,—all of which under certain circumstances have been conceded to have power, force, or influence to govern or control humanity, none of which they rightfully possess.

The Bible says of a man, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he;" in other words, what he accepts as law governs him. In commenting on this phase of human belief, Mrs. Eddy has said in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 227), "I saw that the law of mortal belief included all error, and that, even as oppressive laws are disputed and mortals are taught their right to freedom, so the claims of the enslaving senses must be denied and superseded."

Through Christian Science mankind is being taught that the only real laws are the laws of God; and in the true sense there can be no separation between government and divine law. God's laws, as thus understood, include no elements of evil, of discord, or of disease, but must be entirely good, governing man in accord with the essential nature and character of God as divine Love. The understanding of this gives freedom of thought and action, and makes possible the overcoming of all that is oppressive and restrictive. It means health, harmony, perfection, and completeness to the one who observes real law. Then so-called laws of anatomy, physiology, and so forth, have no inherent or legitimate claim to power. They are but so many specific instances of the foibles of the so-called human mind, of which we read in Science and Health (p. 270), "The human mind alone suffers, is sick."

It is provable that matter can have no law, because matter is inert, mindless, without intelligence or volition, and utterly devoid of power. In proportion as consciousness is seen to be spiritual and not material, the real man appears. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 425): "Consciousness constructs a better body when faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew." This "new man," therefore, is under spiritual law, which is the only law that really is.

Paul clearly saw the essential difference between so-called material, or carnal law, and the spiritual law of Life, when he stated, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." It is interesting to note the process of spiritual right thinking by which he arrived at this conclusion; for prior to this he wrote, "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." A clearer realization gave him freedom, as it does every one who obtains it.

The Bible has much to say about law, and gives to humanity the first recognized code of laws in the Ten Commandments. In all its teachings the Bible emphasizes the importance of obedience to the laws of God. In Joshua we read, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

It is a matter of record that as the Israelites observed and were obedient to the laws of God, they prospered and had "good success." In their wanderings in the wilderness, they were protected and guided aright; and only as they disregarded the laws of God did they temporarily succumb to evil conditions of thought called enemies. It is recorded in the book of Daniel that King Darius was prevailed upon by certain "presidents and princes" to establish a "royal statute" and to make a "firm decree" that any one who should "ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days," except of the king, should be cast into the "den of lions." This statute or decree was not based upon justice or truth. It was the outcome, the emanation of envy, jealousy, malice, and hatred; therefore, even though it was a fixed belief of law for "thirty days," and according to the "law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not," could not be changed, in reality it was not law, and could not govern Daniel, who knew and observed the law of God. This claim of law went to the limit of what it could do in placing Daniel in the den of lions; and there it was rendered null and void by the higher law of divine Love.

There is no fixed law, no unchangeable law, save the law of divine Love; and of the one who observes this law the Psalmist says: "His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Obedience to law includes obedience to rightful authority. For the Christian Scientist this means obedience to the Manual of The Mother Church, by Mary Baker Eddy, as the governing law of the church; it means loyalty to The Christian Science Board of Directors in their support of and obedience to the Manual; and it means strict conformity to the Tenets of The Mother Church and adherence to Article VIII, Section 1, of the Manual, "A Rule for Motives and Acts."

To cling to personality rather than to Principle, to matter rather than to Spirit, is that which impels disobedience to law, and entails discord and disaster. The Manual of The Mother Church observed and obeyed brings to each individual Christian Scientist that unmeasured good which its author knew would inevitably follow full obedience to God's law.