Article January 29, 1927 Issue

Protection versus Self-Will

GERTRUDE S. PERKINS

One of the most wonderful and most comforting experiences which comes to a student when the light of Truth as taught in Christian Science dawns upon his consciousness, is the conviction of the protection which God constantly gives to His children. And then, as one works under this knowledge for a time, there comes the further discovery that in order to gain the full benefit of this protection one must give up self-will. As a part of our religious practice we used to pray, "Thy will be done;" but while we prayed we had many misgivings as to the consequences if God's will should really be done! We generally wanted to know just how God intended to do His will; and usually, in order that it should be done in the way which we considered right, we took a very active hand in all the operations! Then, later, there comes a time in the experience of every Christian Scientist when he learns that the only true protection is in knowing that the only right way for each and every problem to be worked out is that way which is in accordance with God's will; and rather than fear that the will of God will be accomplished, he knows that he must be constantly alert that he does not project his own will into the problem, and thus temporarily delay the operation of God's will.

One of the ways whereby we can clearly see and do the will of God is by cultivating spiritual sense. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says (pp. 209, 210): "Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God. It shows the superiority of faith by works over faith in words. Its ideas are expressed only in 'new tongues;' and these are interpreted by the translation of the spiritual original into the language which human thought can comprehend." In a much-loved hymn are the lines:

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Protection versus Self-Will

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access