Article May 17, 1982 Issue

Special dividends from the Manual

ESTHER MURLIN PROBST

Do you turn often to the Manual of The Mother Church for comfort and healing? Does the Manual stand out in your everyday thought as a perpetually fresh oasis, offering vital spiritual refreshment and clear-cut guidance from God? Or does it seem more like the foundation of a building—strong and essential but concerned with basics and thus rather cataloged and taken for granted?

In writing of the development of the Manual to her thought, Mrs. Eddy shows that it came as did Science and Health—from God, man's divine Principle, Mind. Of these Rules and By-Laws she says: "They were impelled by a power not one's own, were written at different dates, and as the occasion required." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 148.

Obviously, each By-Law means what it says, representing in a specific and vital area of our lives the form and functioning of God's government. However, the light and wisdom expressed in each law, being evolved through reliance on infinite Mind, cannot be restricted but must always show forth new facets of divine Truth and Love, of God's ministering omnipresence, to the student who perceives the divine Principle inherent in each statement. Like a candle set upon a table to illumine its surface, each By-Law must yet radiate a wider circle of light extending far beyond the immediate object of its focus. In unlimited ways each By-Law—in proportion as it is understood and obeyed by individual Christian Scientists—helps ensure "the dignity and defense" of all who are involved in the Cause of God's Science.

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