Prepared for the Church Activities Department of The Mother Church. Third of eight articles.

Through their Sunday Schools, our churches teach children the moral and spiritual laws of scientific Christianity that strengthen and support them. From the earliest classes, the pupils learn of God's ever-presence and nearness. They learn that divine Principle helps and heals us, and shows us how to turn with obedience to our Father-Mother. They begin to grasp how much everyone is loved by divine Love.

What is a teacher's work? To teach by his living and his words the spiritual and moral law of the Bible, which finds its clearest expression in Christian Science. To teach according to this standard is to fulfill the promise of the Psalmist: "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised .... One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." ^{Ps. 145:3, 4.}

Teaching young people, then, is a divine requirement, and our understanding grows when we do what God requires. Isn't this why Mrs. Eddy, the Founder of our Church with its Sunday School, puts so much emphasis on learning and living the moral and spiritual law of the Scriptures? The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes are foremost precepts, first lessons for all Christian Scientists, just as they apparently took a leading place in Christ Jesus' teaching of his disciples.

The instructions in The Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy about the "first lessons" ^{See Man., Art. XX, Sect. 3.} in Sunday School teaching include one other vital element, too—the Lord's Prayer, together with its spiritual interpretation by Mrs. Eddy, which goes right along with the Commandments and Beatitudes. The Manual says, "The first lessons of the children should be the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17), the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13), and its Spiritual Interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy, Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–12)."

God's moral and spiritual requirements in the Commandments and the Beatitudes can be met through prayer put to work in daily living. The child learns to pray for himself just as Christ Jesus, the master Christian, taught, and with the depth of insight that Mrs. Eddy calls "the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer." ^{Science and Health, p. 16.} Spirituality and mental alertness are heightened by prayer. We begin to learn more of Christian Science on our own through living our prayer. Obedience leads to understanding. Understanding strengthens obedience. Moral fiber grows. So the cycles of spiritual learning continue.

How? Here's one example. The second commandment teaches us not to make or serve "any graven image" (Ex. 20:4). The Bible is full of illustrations of physical or mental images rejected: Joseph refusing the enticements of his master's wife; the three Hebrews refusing to bow before the golden statue; Christ Jesus rejecting the mental images of the tempter in the wilderness. These, and many other Bible examples, give the teacher and pupils a clear understanding of what the commandment means by showing how it applies, and how simple obedience to God brings deliverance.

Young children can learn how this commandment helps them. It can be seen as a promise that no mental picture ever has to be graven in their thought. Fear-producing beliefs and dreaded experiences are really powerless to hurt them, since God's love is ever present with them. They don't need to be afraid of the dark, or of violent scenes or images from television, or of the big kid down the block, or the aggressive dog next door, or any other image that would impress itself on their thinking. They can take firm control and act wisely with God's help. (Mrs. Eddy gives parents and teachers some further help with this subject on page 237, lines 1–22, of Science and Health.)

The second commandment is certainly a direct help to teenagers in dealing with the fears and self-doubts that can seem so troublesome to them—lack of opportunity, emotional ups and downs, being judged unfairly, and so on. The commandment acts as a promise that other people's false impressions, or strongly held opinions of them, or even their own misgivings about themselves don't have to be engraved. Their experiences and their thoughts can be placed in the hands of the one divine Mind, who knows each one as he really is—perfectly stable, capable, true to this Mind. Joseph's spiritually meek way of dealing with the false impressions and judgments of others proved to be a source of strength. His confidence held up. God's purpose completely overrode imprisonment, hate, and revenge, and all was set right. Joseph let this harsh experience be preparation for whatever God's good plan held for him. Simple obedience to the second commandment proved to be the doorway to deliverance and higher service.

"First lessons" like the second commandment keep on helping us forever. They have no time limit. The Commandments, the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation, and the Beatitudes play an important part in every Sunday School class from the youngest to the oldest. It's not just our knowing the words of the moral and spiritual laws, but practicing their meaning that makes these divine demands come alive every time we think about them.

These "first lessons," so important in our Leader's vision of the Christian Science Sunday School, are its mainstay. They are the grand themes she wanted us to teach. So what we teach isn't an issue. The Science of Life is an endless, varied, open field to explore and enjoy with our pupils. The instruction we give in obedience to the Manual's provisions is pure, strong, and flexible—and adapted to every need.