Obstacles to a desired end often appear because one has not accepted the necessity for obedience. Indeed, the word "obedience" is sometimes distasteful to one who does not understand its role. But as we perceive its necessary place, it becomes a light guiding to success.

Obeying the laws of the land is accepted practice for responsible people who have been educated to appreciate the value of law. Willingness to obey spiritual laws grows in proportion to one's understanding of God, for understanding and obedience are inseparable.

Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health, "The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal." ^{Science and Health, Pref., p. vii;} To know God is to know His relationship to man as Father-Mother. The Supreme Being, ever-present and omnipotent Mind, is not a contradictory or unpredictable monarch meting out harsh justice to mortals. He is all-inclusive Love, and only the consciousness imbued with spiritual love can discern and approach Him.

Under no circumstances, however desperate and hopeless they may seem, can we lose Him, for we live in Him and are sustained by Him. Inseparable from His love and governed by His wisdom, the man of God's creating is safe and beautiful in His sight. Conforming to His unchanging but tender law of deliverance from all evil, we can prove the power of meekness and obedience to lift us out of a self-willed, self-made pit of ignorance and fear.

Christ Jesus rendered implicit obedience to God. He fulfilled his mission on the basis of these words: "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." ^{John 8:29;} His supreme love for God and the utter surrender of his own will exemplified the ultimate in obedience and qualified him as the Messiah, or Saviour. He judged righteous judgment and lifted the burden of sin and disease from suffering humanity. His healings were as instantaneous as his obedience to the law of Love.

There was no intervening mental darkness, no fear, doubt, or rumination of mortal mind, or material consciousness. These would only clutter and hide the real issue and delay healing. He went straight to the point. The laws he obeyed were the same commandments that he reiterated for his followers: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." ^{Luke 10:27;}

The path ahead of us may appear long and arduous, and conflicting elements of mortal mind seem to resist our sincere efforts to demonstrate harmony. Another's unkindness or lack of wisdom or other rebellion against God's law makes strong demands on the student of Christian Science to see the real, spiritual man and to acknowledge his perfect identity as a child of God. As Christ Jesus proved in his healing ministry, this is the affirmative work of obedience, having untold power for good.

The earnest student of Christian Science prayerfully approaches a problem with an honest desire to see a situation resolved into harmony. Sometimes, however, he is dismayed to find, through self-examination, that he is accenting the very errors he would see destroyed. Thus the first step is revealed to him—that of obediently clearing the false evidence from his own consciousness.

At one time the writer was struggling with a seemingly justified criticism of a friend who was dear to her. An artificial attitude of aloofness and unwillingness to communicate until the other admitted and corrected the error brought no change. As time went on, the situation did not improve but grew more strained. She lost her natural buoyancy and became depressed. Finally she was willing to admit that self-righteousness was not true righteousness and that criticism of another, though seemingly based on a good reason, was not a healing agent. Only then did she see her need of yielding to a higher law.

Mrs. Eddy gives the true test of obedience when she says, "Insubordination to the law of Love even in the least, or strict obedience thereto, tests and discriminates between the real and the unreal Scientist." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 119;} As the writer contemplated this high standard of thought and action, a quiet sense of humility took possession of her thinking. Was there any error greater, she asked herself, than "insubordination to the law of Love"? She awakened to see that she was identifying man with error and that she could not truly love God while condemning one of His children. Not less, but more, love was required.

When she let go of personal criticism, her own true nature came into view once more. Instantly she was free from senseless, material concepts that had been penalizing her joy and her health. What had seemed so real about her friend faded into nothingness as she expressed love and tenderness. Harmony was again established between them. She resolved in the future to watch for the more direct route to harmony, instantaneous forgiveness and undelayed obedience. She resolved to avoid the tortuous, longer way around that mortal mind offers on the ground of self-justification.

Sudden restoration to harmony is possible at the very moment one embraces obedience in wholehearted acceptance of the truth that the real man is created in God's own image and scientifically rejects the unreal, transitory beliefs of mortal existence. How momentous the decision! How simple the process! Mrs. Eddy makes it plain: "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God." ^{p. 354 .}