Rest

RALPH P. AIKEN

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." So spake Jesus unto those who were weary of worldly activity and the hollowness of the reward that comes of it. And many since his day have accepted the invitation and lost, to some extent, the burdens of distracting material sense. And yet, until recent years the true meaning of the rest that Jesus promised has been but dimly discerned. Formerly it was almost wholly taken to mean a retirement from activity, the adoption of a monastic or hermit-like form of life, that shunned responsibility and avoided contact with urgent problems which must be solved if the glory of God is to be revealed to all mankind. Men and women often withdrew from the world in the belief that they were thus achieving the rest reserved for the weary.

But there are thousands to-day who, while feeling that a heavy burden lies upon them, feel yet more strongly that to surrender it and withdraw from active life would be utterly selfish and in defiance of their duty. For such as these Christian Science comes with a splendid revelation of the power of God to give rest to His brave ones under any condition. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, proclaims on page 519 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," that "God rests in action;" and these ringing words are filled with hope for the world-weary, the physically weary, the mentally weary.

Mrs. Eddy showed that God is the author of the entire creation and, consequently, of all activity, by showing how every activity which is not of God—not good—may be nullified, while the works of God can never be destroyed. Jesus proved this also; and thousands of Christian Scientists are proving it to-day. They make these proofs for no mean, selfish end, but for the same reason Jesus made them, as Mrs. Eddy explains on page 494 of Science and Health, "for tired humanity's reassurance."

Now if God be the author of all activity, the work we have to do must be to reflect that activity. It is not our work apart from God. And if it is the reflection of God's activity, it must be divinely done. We take unto ourselves a great conceit when we believe ourselves overworked or overburdened; for God is infinitely able to support us in all the work we may be called upon to do; and He will bring into our lives, into our daily endeavors, His divine and infinite energy, if we will but turn to Him and put ourselves aside. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Jesus was meek and lowly; that is, he recognized that he had no power apart from God, for this is what meekness and lowliness consist of. He said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."

By knowing that "God rests in action" and that He causes us to reflect that action, we shall find our work better done than ever before, and ourselves freer from every kind of weariness and worry. It is God that is responsible for the work, O ye that labor! And when by the invincible truths of Christian Science we learn this, we shall joyously prove the Bible promise, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

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Faith Proved by Works

October 29, 1927

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