Article December 8, 1928 Issue

Leaning on God

DELLA M. WHITNEY

The unspeakable freedom, peace, and joy expressed by the Psalmist when he sang, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ... He restoreth my soul," can be obtained only by leaning on an understanding of God. To lean is "to incline so as to receive support, comfort, etc." And one is leaning on his understanding of God to the degree that he is experiencing the "signs following."

Often the statement is heard, "I have given up and left the whole thing to God." To give up is not always an easy thing to do. Many times we think we have given up while we are still holding on tenaciously to some phase of a problem. When we have reached the place where we can fearlessly lay it in God's hands, whether it is our own or another's problem, and turn from contemplating the false evidence; when we have won the assurance of His allness and are willing to accept His solution, we have really given up. In the practice of Christian Science, it is especially needful for one to cultivate the Christly quality of humility. It is necessary constantly to analyze one's thinking to see that one is relying wholly on God. When the errors of sickness or sin have seemed to resist the application of the truth, many times the mistake lies in the unrecognized false belief that the practitioner is himself doing something, and is responsible for results. One's responsibility always ceases when he has complied with the demands of God. The work for another will be as readily accomplished according to this rule as for one's self.

As we begin to experience the joy and freedom that are won by depending on God for our help and guidance, we must not overlook the necessity of allowing others to do the same. When another seeks our aid in the solution of a problem, he is asking for the application of our understanding of God's allness, not for any human advice. Personal opinion is rarely of value. Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 59), "That individual is the best healer who asserts himself the least, and thus becomes a transparency for the divine Mind, who is the only physician; the divine Mind is the scientific healer."

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