Article September 3, 1949 Issue

OUR DUTY TO MANKIND

ELEANOR SHIPMAN MINER

In Section 6 of Article VIII, entitled "Alertness to Duty," in the Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy writes, "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."

To fulfill one's duty to God, it is necessary to be constantly watchful that we do not worship or fear other gods, or powers, such as lack, disease, sin, or hatred. To entertain a sense of fear even momentarily is to accept a belief that there can be a power apart from God, good. Consequently to love God supremely and joyfully do His will is one way to fulfill each day our duty to our Father. Our duty to our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, is to follow her teachings according to our highest understanding and to acknowledge with grateful heart her rightful place as Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

When it comes to our duty to mankind, however, perhaps aggressive mental suggestion would argue that the world is so large and the seeming chaos so widespread that a single individual can do little about it. This suggestion must be rejected, for the work of the individual is indispensable to the promotion of world peace and salvation. Since world-wide manifestations of lack, division, suffering, and war are but false beliefs universally accepted, it is readily seen that as they are replaced in individual consciousness with the facts of being, namely, abundance, the unity of man with God, harmony and peace, world-wide evidences of these facts will appear.

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