Article February 22, 1947 Issue

"Alertness to Duty"

NOEL D. BRYAN-JONES

In the Manual of The Mother Church, under the heading "Alertness to Duty," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, points out a specific phase of so-called evil, or animal magnetism, against which the student of Christian Science should daily protect himself. Article VIII, Section 6, states in part, "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind."

This Rule indicates that the claim of aggressive mental suggestion is to lull one into an attitude of forgetfulness and neglect of one's duty. Often, for example, one settles down to a period of study only to find that, though the surroundings are harmonious and quiet, intrusive thoughts clamor for attention. They may be regarding some plans for legitimate activity, or perhaps may center upon something entirely irrelevant, such as a tune which repeats itself in one's consciousness. Whatever they are, study becomes difficult or even seems impossible. And if one is not awake to what is going on, he gives up the attempt to study, and his duty to God, to our Leader, and to mankind is neglected. Specific denial of the power of aggressive mental suggestion and the realization that divine Mind alone is the Mind of man removes the disturbance from one's thought and so enables him to experience the blessings of study and spiritual enlightenment.

The three words "aggressive mental suggestion" provide in themselves a useful clue as to how the subject may be dealt with. They suggest a presence other than omnipresence, a power other than omnipotence, and an awareness other than omniscience. The omnipresence of Mind is the allness of Mind, God, and there is none else. Mind, God, is Love, and so the omnipresence of Mind is the omnipresence of Love, and all that can be truly termed mental is the all-inclusive activity of divine Mind, Love.

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