Article November 6, 1943 Issue

A Rule of Deep Import

VINTON A. HOLBROOK

One Rule of the Church Manual has the distinction of being read regularly every month in The Mother Church and in all its branches. The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, must have intended that her followers should make a special effort to abide by this Church Rule or she would not have required it to be read the first Sunday of each month as provided in Article VIII, Section 1, of the Manual.

It is headed "A Rule for Motives and Acts," and reads in part, "Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church." The Christian world has always laid great stress on loving—loving God and one's neighbor; but it has seldom warned against the evils of personal attachment, nor has it always clearly differentiated between human and divine love. Mrs. Eddy places side by side the evil of hatred or animosity with the evil of personal attachment, neither of which should be allowed to govern the life of a Christian Scientist.

The second sentence reads, "In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness." This sentence elucidates and supplements the first sentence by showing the kind of Love that governs the real man— divine Love, which is not transient or selfish. Personal attachment is founded on the human sense of love. From every human source— by radio, by the printed page, and in society or business—mortal mind is constantly propagandizing personal attachment, telling us in one breath of the pleasure it brings, and in the next of its sorrows and disappointments.

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