Article January 10, 1948 Issue

"ALERTNESS TO DUTY"

CLARA ARMITAGE BROWN

In the Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy, we find under the caption "Alertness to Duty" (Art. VIII, Sect. 6) the By-Law which reads 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."

It is impossible to obey one part of this By-Law without obeying it all; that is, fulfilling our whole duty to God includes fulfilling our duty to our Leader and to mankind. Similarly, fulfilling our duty to our Leader includes discharging our duty to God and mankind, and fulfilling our duty to mankind is dependent upon doing our duty to God and to our Leader.

In calling the evil which would make us forget or neglect our duty as Christian Scientists "aggressive mental suggestion," Mrs. Eddy points out its nature. Evil is falsely mental and comes as suggestion claiming that God has an opposite. Evil has no fact to present. It is mesmeric and must be met from the spiritual standpoint of God's allness and of error's nothingness. Our Leader's wisdom provided this By-Law, which, when obeyed, enables us to express that alertness of thought which refutes the suggestions of self-assertive evil and maintains unswerving loyalty to divine Truth. Thus obeying this By-Law ensures the stability and progress of the individual Christian Scientist, and so of the movement.

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