Editorial July 17, 1937 Issue

True Worship

Duncan Sinclair

True worship is not limited to attendance at church services. Far from it; for worship in its highest significance is nothing less than the reflection and demonstration of good through the understanding of God. Mary Baker Eddy writes on page 241 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "The substance of all devotion is the reflection and demonstration of divine Love, healing sickness and destroying sin."

The Christian Scientist, then, is showing his devotion to God—is worshiping God—when he is destroying error; that is, healing disease, overcoming sin and all other forms of inharmony, through his knowledge of God and obedience to spiritual law. It is written in the book of Isaiah (58:6), "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" And Micah (6:8) aptly puts it this way: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

Material so-called worship, assuming many forms, is prevalent among men. It is the antithesis of true worship, which is altogether spiritual. When one believes that matter is real, when he believes that matter has power, when he believes that there is life and intelligence in matter, when he believes that God, Spirit, acts through matter, he is worshiping materially. Obviously, the basic error is the belief that matter is real. To do away with material worship, then, matter must be seen as unreal; and this is done through the understanding of the truth that God, Spirit, is infinite. Mrs. Eddy says about spiritual worship and material worship (ibid., p. 140): "We worship spiritually, only as we cease to worship materially. Spiritual devoutness is the soul of Christianity. Worshipping through the medium of matter is paganism."

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