Editorial June 6, 1953 Issue

CONSECRATION AND DEDICATION

Robert Ellis Key

Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" writes (p. 262): "Consecration to good does not lessen man's dependence on God, but heightens it. Neither does consecration diminish man's obligations to God, but shows the paramount necessity of meeting them." Here it is seen that consecration has a twofold meaning: first, it means an absolute dependence on God, and secondly, a necessary fulfillment of the demands which God makes upon us.

As Christian Scientists we dedicate, or consecrate, our lives to the Cause of Christian Science in a twofold way. First, we learn to understand God and rely upon divine Principle to solve our problems through the Christ; secondly, we realize that consecration to God makes demands upon us to maintain the spiritual standard of perfect God and perfect man, as set up by Christ Jesus, and to live according to the moral law by the evangelization of the human character.

The opposite of dedication or consecration is an indifference to the divine demands and a gradual falling away from moral standards. Anything that materializes thought acts in this reverse direction.

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