Article February 26, 1927 Issue

"An instrument of ten strings"

GENEVIEVE P. OLSON

The writer's attention had often been arrested by the words of the Psalmist, "Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings." One day she began to ponder them in her heart. Then it came to her that the ten strings might be likened to the Ten Commandments, whose chords, vibrant with wisdom, need to be sounded continually by mankind. Indeed, obedience to the commandments is the first step in praising God and so bringing into experience the harmony of divine Science. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (Pref., p. viii), Mrs. Eddy writes, "To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet concord to sound."

In individual study, as well as in teaching the children, we need to harp continually on these "ten strings," for they sound the major chords in the relation of man to God and man to man. We need to learn that each commandment is essential to progress in the scale of scientific being. True, as Jesus said, the First Commandment includes all the other commandments; but we shall more fully obey the First Commandment if we are careful to endeavor to obey them all. We should also take into account the fact that each commandment deals with some specific phase or phases of mortal belief; and, taken as a whole, the commandments may be said to expose all of evil's false tones. This uncovering is important to scientific progress; for as we learn to recognize the falsity of error's refrain, which continually suggests the reality of life, substance, and intelligence apart from God, Spirit, we shall not be allured by its seductive strains or frightened by its jangling discords.

The demand for obedience to God, good, has reverberated down the ages in these commandments; and we are not left in doubt as to what constitutes obedience to them, if we study them faithfully. They cover all the moral obligations of mankind, and when studied in the light of Christian Science, apply to every human need. "Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength," Mrs. Eddy has written with characteristic wisdom on page 183 of Science and Health. Moses' "obedience to Truth" not only made it possible for him to receive the commandments, but also enabled him to demonstrate the "power and strength" which this obedience makes available. Individually and collectively to-day all may learn through the teaching of Christian Science to prove the practical power which obedience to the Ten Commandments confers.

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