Article August 11, 1951 Issue

"ENABLE US TO KNOW"

MARGARET FLINT JACOBS

In his study of the Bible the Christian Scientist is impressed by the many occasions when Jesus, the master Christian, declared not only his complete dependence upon God, the Father, but also his own implicit obedience to the Father's will. Jesus said (John 5:30), "I can of mine own self do nothing: ... I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Again he declared (John 8:29), "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."

If Christ Jesus did not presume to lay down his own laws and exercise his own will, surely we, his followers, should not so presume! In all her writings Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, teaches us that there can be no genuine success or security except in accordance with the will of God. This point is especially clarified and emphasized in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," where, in interpretation of Jesus' words, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10), she writes (p. 17), "Enable us to know,—in heaven, so on earth,—God is omnipotent, supreme."

This particular passage came to one student in a time of need, and she was led to ponder it with fresh insight. Although she had long been sincere in her devotion to Christian Science, she realized that she was all too often beset by weariness and a sense of frustration—by material sense, which she must overcome if she was to know and demonstrate happiness. But just how was she to make this demonstration, or prove the truths she so reverently acknowledged? The comfort and well-being of several persons besides herself seemed to depend on her labors. Nothing in her daily program could be discarded as superfluous, and there was much which apparently she must leave undone. Furthermore, certain work which she loved, but which must be regarded as a hobby or luxury, she might be obliged to put aside altogether. Reorganization of some sort was required of her. She must act, but how?

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