WEBSTER defines obedience as "the submission to rightful restraint; a proper submission to control." A little reflection shows us that obedience to divine Principle, to lawful authority, both human and divine, is a universal requisite, and applies to mankind in all ages and under all conditions. Equally certain is it that the fruits of disobedience are suffering and death, that this law is as immutable and unchangeable as the law of Life and Love, and that it applies to every detail of our lives, in small affairs as well as great. That these facts are generally recognized is evidenced by the efforts which mortals have made, from the beginning of history, to establish laws and regulations for the government of families and the regulation of social relations and civic duties.
The wise parent or teacher of the young lays a broad and enduring foundation for good when he lovingly but firmly plants in the youthful mind the seeds of obedience to "the powers that be," to whom we are all accountable, from the least to the greatest. The greatest, most exalted, and most powerful personage known to human history, the one who presented to human consciousness the grandest ideal, and who, above all others, might be justified for taking the reins into his own hands, emphasized throughout his entire life-work the absolute necessity of obedience to the Father, and laid great stress upon its rewards. Says our beloved Leader, "Obeying the divine Principle which you profess to understand and love, demonstrates Truth. . . . If in one instance obedience be lacking, you lose the scientific rule and its reward" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 116). The emphatic testimony of Christ Jesus, together with the words of our Leader, should be sufficient to establish in every Christian Scientist a sense of the vital necessity for unqualified obedience, but it is profitable to follow the argument farther in the domains of human experience,—the state, the municipality, our institutions of learning, and especially the family, where right thinking and strict obedience to all just parental, social, and civic demands should be lovingly enforced at all times.
Verily "as the twig is bent the tree's inclined," and pitiable indeed is the lot of the child who leaves the sheltering and loving influence of parental guidance and enters upon the activities of life without having first acquired the habit of rendering ready and respectful obedience to persons, conditions, and laws superior to himself, for sorrow and suffering will certainly be his portion until he learns this lesson and submits to needful restraint. The universe is established and maintained in obedience to law and order, and so long as it is governed by law a wondrous harmony prevails; but if one of the planets should disobey the laws established by divine wisdom for its guidance, its destruction would follow and chaos reign. It is a noticeable fact that infringement of or disobedience to any established order, whether enunciated by divine wisdom, or instituted by men to regulate their civic affairs, invariably brings punishment, suffering, and consequent discouragement with all its evil consequences. History, revelation, and our own daily experiences plainly show us that disobedience is the foundation fact of all transgression.
