MORTALS want to "get on," as the saying is. Almost everyone has some sort of ambition, and usually it is in the line of material accomplishment. There comes a time, however, when it is seen by many that all the material things placed at our disposal, and all the acclaim of mortals in praise of our human accomplishments, would not be sufficient to satisfy us or show us what "getting on" really means.
This admission should help to advance us to the point where the false nature of much so-called good is seen as evil in disguise. Then the satisfying simplicity of Christian Science may be understood and welcomed. Hitherto we may have believed in the necessity of a mixture of human good and bad, but now we are able to avoid this trap devised by mortal mind to hold us within evil's so-called power.
We may have been falsely educated, twisted mentally into the mesmeric belief that evil is the dominating force of the world and that good is negative and powerless. But what a travesty is the distorted thought about God's creation, the creation which He pronounced "very good"! Is human consciousness holding to the truth when it assigns first place to evil? Did not God disclose the truth to human consciousness when the fact of universal goodness was made known in Christian Science? God is Truth.
An experience of a small child illustrates the bogey-like nature of evil. He had been playing close to the edge of a forest near his home, and found courage for the first time to penetrate its depths. Then fear overwhelmed him, for he believed that giants were standing behind the trees and elfin things were striking from the boughs above. In a panic of fear he dashed about in every direction and screamed with terror. His father heard the cries and came to the rescue. In vain he tried to persuade the lad that no frightful things were there; for had not that boyish imagination pictured them clearly? Years having passed, the boy, now grown to young manhood, returned to the old home and spent a happy hour in the selfsame forest. Thought flew back to those days of youth when it had seemed a place of evil. Now it was serene, joyous, with birds calling to each other from tree to tree, sunshine streaming through the protecting boughs, and beauty everywhere.
How can we break the mesmeric belief in evil, so importunate to human thought? Through the simple quality of loyalty: through being true to what we have learned in Christian Science about good, or God. Spiritual power is expressed through us when we are loyal to our highest sense of good. This is so by reason of the fact that all that we really are, in truth, is the expression of the creative Life which is God. This Life, or God, is utterly good. Everything that is good in our manifestation of life is the reflection of God's being.
It is evident that, once knowing these implicit facts about God and man, we, as Christian Scientists, can pay no further homage to differing beliefs, but must base all our conduct upon this exact knowledge, must act up to it in everything we do. The instinct for good in human consciousness insistently demands that we live in consonance with this divine, imperative impulsion. This establishes the only possible basis for true dominion, and invalidates any acceptance of or allegiance to evil. All that God has and is, all that is created, is perfect. We may not safely be concerned with things which seem otherwise. Complete happiness comes by following that which is perfect. There is no way to peace and freedom save the trustworthy path of loyalty to that conviction.
No phase of evil wages a successful battle against God, though it seems at times to do so with mortals; and when steep hills or alluring bypaths appear before us, the temptation may take form in discouragement or license, designed to make us forget our spiritual journey. At such times our loyalty is tested. No one being present to observe us, we may be tempted to ignore Principle and the demands of Principle, so that we may wander about in forbidden paths. Should we yield to this impulse we shall find, instead of joy, the punishment which evil brings upon itself. Evil's semblance of power is but infirmity, which may lead to utter prostration of energy and right desire, until the call of loyalty to God brings restoration.
The escape by many Christian Scientists from bondage to sin, disease, and limitation through loyalty is due to the fact that this quality is a paramount expression of divine Love operating in human consciousness, and leading not only to a comprehension of Truth but to a deep affection for it. Mrs. Eddy tells us in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 189), "The government of divine Love derives its omnipotence from the love it creates in the heart of man; for love is allegiant, and there is no loyalty apart from love." How true this appears when we stop to think of it! We never fail in loyalty to a friend when we love him. We find ourselves unswerving in fidelity to a cause when it is so close to our hearts as to engage our fervent admiration and attachment.
So, if we truly understand and love the Cause of Christian Science, how can we fail in loyalty to it? If one is fully and finally to assume the name "Christian Scientist," he must see to it that his loyalty extends to each and every activity of the Cause. He may not be at-one with some of its activities and ignore others.
Expressions of gratitude to Mrs. Eddy are frequently heard when Christian Scientists are recounting blessings coming to them as a result of her teachings. They cannot be loyally grateful to their Leader unless they are supporting those who are chiefly responsible for carrying on the work which she established. Mrs. Eddy, by the nature of her revelation, can have no human successor as Leader. She did, however, provide a definite means by which all that constitutes the Christian Science organization may function. This means is the Board of Directors of The Mother Church—The Christian Science Board of Directors. It is obvious that the jurisdiction of the government and polity of our church, under the authority of the Manual, is vested in this Board, which thereby has been constituted by our Leader the executive head of our organization. This means that loyalty to this Board is requisite from members of Christian Science churches. We must therefore recognize the necessity of supporting the Board of Directors in all that it is doing to safeguard and promote the well-being of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
A righteously loyal man is a faithful man, constant and true to his highest understanding of authority, which in the last analysis is divine Principle. Such a man disowns allegiance, fealty, or homage to anything less. Of such a conqueror may be repeated the words of Christ Jesus, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."
Mrs. Eddy has tersely stated the theorem of true progress in her characteristic way on page 183 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "Divine Mind rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength. No reservation is made for any lesser loyalty."
