Editorial March 20, 1971 Issue

Learning to Obey

Alan A. Aylwin

Paul's life took a sudden right-about-face when he encountered the Christ on the road to Damascus. This first glimpse of Truth changed him from a merciless zealot to an ardent, but humble, servant of divine Love. His mistaken sense of duty yielded to a meek willingness to follow the Christ in a new and higher direction. He said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" ^{Acts 9:6;}

At this point in his career Paul was taught the first rudiments of a lesson that we all must learn, namely, that the real, spiritual man is not an independent agent created with a mind and will of his own, set free to choose his own way. Although to the material senses this false view does seem the case, the apostle got a glimpse of the higher sense of man that Christ Jesus exemplified and Christian Science reveals so clearly today.

Study of this Science throws light on the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. We learn progressively that man is not a physical entity with a personal mind but a spiritual being made in the image of divine Mind, expressing or reflecting God's perfect nature. The real man, then, has no volition independent of divine Mind but is wholly obedient to the creative intelligence that conceives him, constitutes him, and controls every facet of his experience. Mrs. Eddy confirms this vital point. She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "Thus it is with man, who is but the humble servant of the restful Mind, though it seems otherwise to finite sense." ^{Science and Health, pp. 119, 120;}

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