"THY WILL BE DONE"

MAY BELCHER.

It is a great step in our passage from sense to Soul when for the first time we realize, however dimly, the true meaning of those words which most of us have repeated so frequently from our earliest childhood, "Thy will be done." Before we begin to learn in Christian Science "what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God," we used to try to say, "Thy will be done," in times of great sorrow and anxiety, believing that an all-loving Father had sent us this heavy burden for some wise but inscrutable purpose of His own, a burden which we must accept unquestioningly, although our reason tells us that even an imperfect human father would not willingly so afflict his children.

Through the clearer understanding of God as Love, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," which we are gaining day by day in our study of Christian Science, we begin to see what God's will is. We know it means perfect love, peace, joy, harmony, wisdom, strength, and power, the kingdom of heaven manifested here and now. Having gained some understanding of what constitutes the divine will, our next step is to make this knowledge practical in our lives, so that we too may reflect God's will, and directly when we are faced with the antagonism of that carnal or human will which St. Paul tells us is "enmity against God."

Although we say "Thy will be done," we are often so unwilling to give up our own opinions and desires that we delude ourselves into thinking we are being governed by God's will when it is quite the reverse, and it is not until some bitter experience comes to us that we are ready to be quite honest with ourselves and to acknowledge with humility all our selfishness, pride, and self-will. In striving to work out our life-problem according to the rule given us in Christian Science, we need to watch that we do not outline in any direction of thought. We are certainly not demonstrating the Principle of Christian Science if we first make up our minds that a certain course of action is right, and then work to bring about a given result in accordance with our own wishes. To do this is clearly not leaving all to God, and very far from saying in all sincerity, "Thy will be done." It is bringing our work down from the metaphysical to the material plane; it is believing in the power of the finite mind to judge righteous judgment.

In all problems which may present themselves, whether personal, social, political, or national, we cannot outline anything. Our work is to strive to realize more and more each day that God, divine Mind, is the only power, the only thinker; that His law is the only law, and that if we are content to leave all things in His hands, we shall be shown the right path, and have strength given us to walk firmly and unfalteringly in that path.

We know that in order really to demonstrate God's will, all material belief and desire must be given up, that everything which is contrary to God's law must be uprooted from our lives. We must learn to say, "Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in me" (Science and Health, p. 33). This means much, even the crucifixion of our human sense of self; but if we honestly strive to put this great truth into practise, we shall begin to understand the meaning of those words of our Master, "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy ... and your joy no man taketh from you." Every time there are difficult problems to be faced, if we can only give up our own will we will have a sense of security and peace which indeed "passeth all understanding." All worry, anxiety, fear, all sense of personal responsibility, will be lifted from our shoulders, and we shall be like little children holding firmly to a loving hand, knowing that all protection and good are ours.

On page I of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Desire is prayer," and often when the struggle with the human will seems well-nigh overpowering, that thought will come to the storm-tossed human consciousness with healing in its wings, for we know that if we honestly desire to do God's will, not all the so-called laws of mortal mind can hinder us. Then, as the mists clear away, we realize, perhaps as we have never done before, the omnipotence and omnipresence of good, and the consequent powerlessness and nothingness of evil. This knowledge brings to us the joy, strength, and peace which the world can neither give nor take away.

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