Editorial January 21, 1939 Issue

Loyalty

Duncan Sinclair

In her autobiography Mary Baker Eddy gives a wonderful definition of loyalty—loyalty, that is, on the part of students of Christian Science. It reads (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 50), "By loyalty in students I mean this,—allegiance to God, subordination of the human to the divine, steadfast justice, and strict adherence to divine Truth and Love."

According to this definition, loyalty includes "allegiance to God." Indeed, allegiance to the Supreme Being is basic. What does this allegiance comprise? There must be an understanding of the divine nature as Christian Science reveals it. There must be the understanding that God is infinite Mind or Spirit, infinite Love, infinite good, and the knowledge, consequent to this understanding, that what mortals call matter or evil has no real existence. Further, there must be faithfulness to this understanding. Thus, the loyal student of Christian Science affirms the truth of God's allness, and denies reality to matter or evil, thus honoring the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Since this manner of thinking is scientific, it enables him to demonstrate the rules of Christian Science in healing disease and overcoming sin.

Loyalty in the Christian Scientist necessarily means the overcoming of error; that is, the erroneous or evil beliefs which seem to exist in human consciousness, side by side with true or good thoughts. There may be many false beliefs to be got rid of; and got rid of they must be if one is to experience the reign of the divine within. And the divine consists of the ideas or qualities of God, Mind, such as purity, harmony, joy, compassion, love. Loyalty is lacking if these be not present; if, instead, impurity, discord, joylessness, lovelessness are in evidence. Our Leader writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 43), "The divine must overcome the human at every point."

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