Editorial October 23, 1926 Issue

Joyous Obedience

Albert F. Gilmore

Christian Scientists frequently examine their thoughts to determine how nearly they are conforming their mental activities to the divine. Aware as they are of the necessity, in order to progress spiritually, of exactly conforming to God's will, they endeavor to put off the "old man," the false material concept of existence, and to put on the "new," that is, to make spiritual ideas their own. Through demonstration, having proved Christian Science to be true, they accept its teachings without reservation, undertake to live in accord with its tenets, and obey the provisions of the Manual of The Mother Church. Knowing that the revelation of Truth which came to Mrs. Eddy enabled her to establish the movement, Christian Scientists find great joy and much profit in loyal and ready obedience.

Wherever our beloved Leader shows the way, Christian Scientists joyously follow; and while in the course of the expansion of the movement it may seem necessary at times to make new paths, such action is always taken as the demonstration which follows righteous prayer. Divine guidance is constantly sought and divine revelation implicitly obeyed. Students of Christian Science do not find obedience irksome, but rather do they welcome the opportunity to gain in the acquisition of spiritual power through conformity to divine Principle as revealed by Mrs. Eddy. In the Preface to the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. viii), she states that "to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle."

Mrs. Eddy, under divine guidance, provided for the preparation of a Lesson-Sermon which is the chief feature of the Sunday services in Christian Science churches. This Lesson-Sermon comprises selected passages from the King James Version of the Bible and from the Christian Science textbook, the two books which our Leader ordained as the "Pastor" of The Mother Church (see Church Manual, p. 58). The subjects for Lesson-Sermons, twenty-six in number, were selected by Mrs. Eddy and are followed each half year in regular order. Each lesson deals with some aspect of one of these subjects. The Bible selections and correlative readings from Science and Health develop the subject of each Lesson-Sermon in a logical and conclusive manner, so that the student may gain from it a clear and comprehensive view of some specific phases of the subject.

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