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In the United States, a sparkling highlight of July is Independence Day. But what is it about independence that the whole world treasures so much?

To be dependent means to be “relying on another for support” or “subject to another’s jurisdiction” (merriam-webster.com). To be independent, then, is to be free from that. We value our health and our wealth, for example, because they tend to signal self-determination, the ability to do the good we would without relying on another.

But how do we obtain independence? Interestingly, through complete dependence on God, our tender Father-Mother, who supplies every need. St. Paul knew this when he called himself a “servant of God” (Titus 1:1).

Of course, Christ Jesus makes clear that our relationship to God is that of deeply cherished sons and daughters. Nevertheless it’s true that, paradoxically, the only way out of the material world’s slavery—where illness, poverty, and death are constant tyrants—is wholehearted devotion to the will of God, divine Love, which is always good and offers us freedom to soar like the skyborne eagle above earth’s woes.

That is certainly what our intrepid Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, found. While still a young woman, she was burdened with illness, poverty, and bereavement. Well could these words from Isaiah 54 describe her early adulthood: “The Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused” (verse 6). But if sickness and sorrow sought to be her master, they would find no willing servant, for her earnest devotion was to God alone, and through His grace, she would come to realize these words from the same chapter, lifting her out of the suffering that seemed so unrelenting: “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer…. Thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear” (verses 8, 14).

We, too, can follow the Christly path that leads out of oppression into comfort, health, and peace. The articles and testimonies of healing in this issue of the Journal are proof, written by individuals from around the globe striving to follow the Master, Jesus, and notching important victories along the way. 

So here’s wishing you a happy Independence Day every day—in celebration not just of freedoms achieved long ago but of dear-bought spiritual triumphs happening even now, today.

Aaron Bingham
Copy Editor