Editorial March 5, 1949 Issue

MEETING OBLIGATIONS

George Channing

There is no escape from obligations. There is only the necessity and the capacity for meeting them. Since man is the image and likeness of God, he may be said to be obliged to reflect the perfect nature of his divine source. In this sense, his obligation is to bear witness to God's being. Such obligation is infinite and is discharged in infinite ways. Hence, as one progresses in spiritual self-knowledge and discerns in himself the ability to reflect God and the power, usefulness, and abundance of good which accompany it, he recognizes increasingly the obligations that are his.

But this does not mean an increasing sense of burden. On the contrary, it means a freer and happier sense of existence, attested by discharged obligations and the joyous recognition of ability to discharge them. In this connection it is well to remember the spiritual truth stated by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, that "progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 233).

It is true that no one should permit a sense of burden to appear or remain in his consciousness. Sometimes this may entail obtaining release from what human sense regards as too many obligations. But the question here is really not how many obligations, but rather to whom are they owed. If the obligation is not to God, divine Principle, it is not an obligation in the true spiritual sense. But if it is to God, it must be discharged. For instance, if the obligation is to love, as when one has accepted and benefited by a service, he should establish the fact that there is no loss to him who serves, and he does so in the way that means just that to himself and to all included in his consciousness. His payment, in whatever coin is required, must mean no less than that.

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