Does not every person, whether he is of humble or haughty lineage, desire to reign over the kingdom of his own life experience? However, men often find this desire thwarted by various phases of materialistic belief. They become dominated by disease, sin, limitations, seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Only a few seem to get beyond mortality's mediocrity and reach the consciousness of man's spiritual destiny. Yet an innate sense of man's right to individual, impartial dominion persists. Somewhere, somehow, there must be a reason for this awareness, a cause deeper than human egotism, will, or prerogative of mortal birth. Must not this reason be the status of the source from which the real man emanates, the divinely royal nature of his Father-Mother God, which bestows upon him the title of son of the King?
In this connection there is an illuminating paragraph in the book "No and Yes" by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. An extract from the paragraph reads as follows (p. 36): "The real Christ was unconscious of matter, of sin, disease, and death, and was conscious only of God, of good, of eternal Life, and harmony. Hence the human Jesus had a resort to his higher self and relation to the Father, and there could find rest from unreal trials in the conscious reality and royalty of his being,—holding the mortal as unreal, and the divine as real." Jesus was conscious of his spiritual royalty and so reigned over the years of his earthly experience. He also taught his followers to know God as their Father and to recognize and exercise man's inherited power in their own affairs. The winds, the waves, the earth and space, the troubles of the world, the crimes of mortal mind, and the sufferings of the flesh bowed before the majesty of him who knew that man is the son of God and wields the scepter of immortality. He was the ruler over his journey from sense to Soul because he knew it was the authority of omnipotence that worked in him. And he prayed that his disciples might know the divine sonship of man, might be with him at this point of conscious enthronement with God.
The deeply revered Leader of Christian Science, whose spiritual insight was akin to the Master's as the revelation of Truth embraced her in its light, understood man's reflection of the sovereignty of God and has lifted the thoughts of mankind from the helplessness of mortality to the power of man's spiritual dignity in the kingdom of his Father. This may be one of many reasons why she has made it a duty for every member of The Mother Church to pray daily: "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" (Manual of The Mother Church, Art. VIII, Sect. 4.) What an individual crowning ceremony this praying time may be, for God answers prayer and invests awakened consciousness with the power of the kingdom of heaven.
Each member of The Mother Church daily communing with God in order that the reign of divine Life may be established in him as it was in the Master; that the rule of spiritual Love may abide in him; that the supremacy of Truth may be his constant condition! What a sacred experience! What a solemn occurrence in preparation for every Mother Church member to go about the business of the kingdom day by day, reigning over every presentation of error to his thought, expressing the laws of God as the government of his being, reflecting the justice of divine wisdom and the mercy of omnipotence! Surely such investiture rules out all sin and enables the disciple of Christ to walk regally, yet humbly, with his God.
What an essential one is the "Daily Prayer" in the Manual (Art. VIII, Sect. 4)! Both individual and universal elements are in it. Majesty, glory, and pulsating responsibility run through it. It is based upon the Lord's Prayer, and so is filled with the atmosphere of holy royalty. Ages meet in its occurrence. The music of coronation permeates its theme, for Christian Science is Christianity's crown. This crown rests upon every consecrated member of The Mother Church. And such a member heeds the admonition of St. John written to the church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:11), "Behold, I [the reigning Christ] come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
In the teachings of Christian Science, humanity learns that the son of God is the only man there really is. This spiritual man reflects all the qualities of the infinite One, the majesty, authority, and absolute government of God. This is true of man everywhere. He can never be less than heir to the throne of heaven. This is the glory that is constantly asserting itself in him, the power that enables him to be Godlike. Man does not bear his Father's name in vain, but wears it in his forehead with honor and grace. He forever expresses the sovereignty of good. As one becomes aware of this he ceases to strive for human prestige and accepts the spiritual royalty of his true selfhood as the son of God. Higher he cannot mount.
This scientific view of man exchanges the human concept of royalty for the divine idea of it. Royalty no longer seems to be the prerogative of a few bestowed upon them by mortal birth, but it becomes that which each may know as the truth of his God-given being. All the sons and daughters of God are the truly royal family of the universe perpetuated throughout eternity. To each one is given the birthright of dominion. There are no elder or younger brethren, for all exist from the beginning with the Father. No offspring of God stands in another's way or robs him of his heritage. In this family there are no false children and no favorites. Each one reigning over himself through obedience to God coexists and co-operates with all his brothers and sisters to express the universal reign of harmony.
This understanding does not tear down the idea of nobility but enlarges and spiritualizes its meaning. Thus are eliminated the errors of class differences, special privileges, inequalities of life, slavish personal adorations. The belief in necessity for revolution is antidoted when it is apparent that no one needs to be dethroned so that another may rule, but everyone must understand his own eternal enthronement as the offspring of the King. In this atmosphere of thought common advantages, individual freedom of progress, mutual respect, and collective uplifting become apparent. As this occurs, there arises unity of vision and purpose, and, all serving the one Supreme Ruler, divine Mind, universal harmony prevails. So the concepts of rulership and ruled are lifted from mortal sense to recognition of individual man governing himself with divine authority and aware of the spiritual kingdom functioning within him.
Consecrated penetration of the meaning of the Manual prayer reveals a fresh, new-old reign of reality unfolding over all the earth. During this reign exploration of the realm of Spirit will be furthered and greater wonders of creation will come to light. Under the government of divine Science human invention will give way to spiritual comprehension and the visions of revelation will become the prolific universe of Mind. Hitherto unreached peaks of scientific Christian achievement, higher than the mountains of earth, will be attained by those who persist with immortal vision, courage, and obedience to God.
The pomp and ceremony of an earthly monarch's coronation are not to be compared with the secret grandeur which embraced the Way-shower as he was pronounced by a voice from heaven to be the offspring of the Most High. As the affections of mankind were poured out to him, they were enriched with deliverance, not pardon, from sin, and with healing of disease, rather than charitable provision for it. He did not decree the death of his enemies, but raised men from the dead. Instead of bestowing higher rank upon a few, he sought to lift all men to conscious at-one-ment with infinite omnipotence. Rather than assuming permanent, personal rule over those who followed him, he taught each individual how to rule over himself, how to let "the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love" be established in him on earth. He said that all men should do as he did, become cognizant of man's royal stature and live accordingly. True Christianity teaches that its followers are jointly heirs with Christ of the kingdom of heaven, the realm that is greater than all the kingdoms of the world combined.
The coronation of a monarch is usually completed within a space of hours. The experience of the members of The Mother Church may be daily investiture with the white and glistering robes of righteousness, the oil of consecration, the wine of inspiration, and the diadem of duties fulfilled. Thus they embody the essence of the Manual prayer, whereby human thought is lifted to the realization of divine being. As the members accept the solemnity and jurisdiction which accompany the crowning of a ruler, they prepare for the reign of immortality with them, the functioning of supreme order. Upon no one member alone, nor upon a few, rests all the responsibility of such great reflection. No one is free from his individual allegiance to God and to all that this implies. Surely no one would wish to abdicate, to refuse to assume the responsibilities of the eminence that belongs to man as God's beloved.
The celebration of a ruler's ascent to the throne is necessarily accompanied by the solemn promise of faithfulness to the trust bestowed. As the daily Manual prayer confers upon the members of the Church of Christ, Scientist, clearer consciousness of man's God-given dominion, it also awakens desire and ability to embody this. Then it is found that Mrs. Eddy has provided not only the prayer of spiritual illumination, but also the oath of fealty to the reign of divine Science with men, in the sixth tenet of The Mother Church, which reads, "And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 497). The world awaits with hope and anticipation the keeping of this sacred pledge by every member of The Mother Church.
