SPEAKING of the new birth, on page 15 of "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy says: "The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins with moments, and goes on with years; moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good; moments of self-abnegation, self-consecration, heaven-born hope, and spiritual love." Earnest students of Christian Science are learning day by day more of these "moments of surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adoption of good." They are learning that what needs to be surrendered is a desire to have their own way and a tendency to trust the world's methods, belief in and fear of matter, and any least desire or tendency to dominate or control others. As this surrender is made, they find that there are no conflicting duties in human experience ; that they need not divide their activities between so-called material and spiritual things, for when human will is definitely silenced all work becomes work for God.
One of the first evidences of true spiritual living is obedience. When we have awakened sufficiently to recognize the unspeakable beauty of this Godlike quality, and let it govern our lives, we have taken a long step towards transformation. So important is obedience that we read in Hebrews concerning Christ Jesus that although he was "called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec," and "though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." If the student of Christian Science seeks further assurance of the indispensable importance of obedience, he need but turn to our Leader's writings and study the history of the establishment, organization, and growth of the Christian Science movement to understand better Mrs. Eddy's estimate of obedience.
It sometimes occurs, however, that even when obedient to what we recognize as the just demands of Christian Science in the daily life, such as readiness to accept spiritual standards, unselfish consideration of others, renunciation of interfering material desires, willingness to enter the work of healing the sick or other church activities, we still seem to be burdened, and miss the joy which is the rightful accompaniment of all such activity.
