Article November 19, 1966 Issue

Dominion over Delay

ELIZABETH BICE LUERSSEN

Most of us at one time or another have experienced the inconvenience, the disappointment, the frustration of delay. What appears as unwarranted and unwanted delay—a tardy dinner guest, a deferred shipment, a postponed payment, or a prolonged illness—like rust on metal, corrodes our peace and joy.

How can we gain dominion over delay? First of all, through our study of Christian Science we can recognize delay for what it is— the dragging tendency of material belief. Material law interposes barriers of time and effort between a right purpose and its accomplishment. Divine law includes no interval of delay and produces immediate accomplishment of purpose. The Psalmist said of God, "He spake, and it was done."^{ Ps. 33:9;}

In God's realm, the realm of spiritual ideas, there is nothing to impede right action, it is only burdensome belief in the material sense of persons and circumstances and things that sets up barriers of hindrance and delay. Clearing thought of everything unlike God's allness, power, and activity prepares the way for effortless and speedy results. On the other hand, acceptance of the possibility or inevitability of delay, as well as the tendency toward procrastination on one's own part, often brings the effects of delay into one's experience.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Dominion over Delay

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access