OUR OBLIGATION

MORRIS W. WILSEY

In the Gospel of John we read (8:32), "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." And in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need."

For many years the writer has pondered these two quotations inscribed upon the walls of his own local Church of Christ, Scientist, as well as upon the walls of innumerable other branch churches. He found a deep significance underlying both these promises. Some may ask: How can we see them fulfilled in our daily life? What special meaning do they hold for us, and how can we benefit from them?

The answer lies in twelve little words immediately preceding the above reference from John: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." What did Jesus mean by these twelve words? Did he mean for us to continue to put our faith in matter—in food, pills, dollars, and rivalrous competition; to put our faith in material laws, systems, and fashions? No, just the opposite; Jesus meant for us to place our whole trust in God, Spirit; to accept unreservedly the spiritual truths of being which he taught and to put them into practice. He could have summed it all up, perhaps, by reiterating the First Commandment.

Our beloved Leader says on page 214 of Science and Health: "We bow down to matter, and entertain finite thoughts of God like the pagan idolater. Mortals are inclined to fear and to obey what they consider a material body more than they do a spiritual God." And again on page 264 she writes, "Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things."

If we continue in God's Word— and therein lies the key—then inevitably we shall know the truth, and that knowing will manifest itself in freedom in our human lives. We shall no longer "bow down to matter." Likewise, if we continue in His Word and obey the Commandments, divine Love will always meet the human need. We shall no longer be inclined to fear a material body and be anxious about its needs.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you," says the Scripture (Matt. 6: 33). John Barry once wrote, "Inexhaustible are the resources of a man the instant he rests on the Divine Will and feels absolute trust."

The point is that there is something for each of us to do to make these promises come true in our lives. We cannot simply sit by and read the words and expect results. We must do something about it. Before divine Love meets our human need, we must purify our thinking, spiritualize our consciousness, be obedient to the divine law of God, good. Then it follows, as surely as day follows night, that divine Love meets every human need, and we are freed from the so-called bonds of materiality— sickness, sorrow, lack—freed from wrong thoughts and conditions of every kind.

The Psalmist assures us (Ps. 37: 3), "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."

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