Article April 18, 1925 Issue

"Thy will be done"

F. EDITH HILL

WHEN it is remembered that a vast multitude of people repeat the words, "Thy will be done," from the Lord's Prayer at least once a week, and that thousands use them in daily prayer, one is tempted to wonder why they have not done more towards making the world a better place in which to live. Now, we know that since desire is always a part of prayer, no mere repetition of words can avail anything if the desire for their fulfillment be lacking. Do all who say, "Thy will be done," really desire that God's will shall be done? The answer to that question surely depends upon their desire, and also upon their understanding as to what constitutes God's will.

Too often it is thought by the sufferer that the will of God means that he must patiently go on suffering because for some mysterious reason it is not God's will for him to have the health which others enjoy. Similarly, the mourner may feel that it means his being resigned to a sense of having lost much that would make life worth living. And to youth it often appears to mean the giving up of pleasure. In each case it is thought to indicate the loss of something worth having. No wonder that with such belief men have come to fear God's will rather than to love and desire it! Though this prayer is repeated as a duty by many people, can it be said that they honestly look forward to having what they conceive to be God's will done, since it claims to bring disaster into their lives?

In the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, which is to be found in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 16, 17), Mrs. Eddy has given the meaning of the words, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" as: "Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is omnipotent, supreme." And yet, even when we remember that God is omnipotent, is there not still sometimes a tendency to fear that His will is going to be done in spite of our efforts to thwart it? Recently, after a church service an earnest Christian remarked to the writer, "Do you know, when I came to 'Thy will be done' in the Lord's Prayer I nearly stopped?" And many have stopped, though reproaching themselves for their rebellious thoughts, while others have gone through with it, but with heaviness of heart. How one longs to help these dear ones, especially when one has been through this very experience, and has emerged to find how needless were the fears!

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