"The demands of God appeal to thought only; but the claims of mortality, and what are termed laws of nature, appertain to matter," writes Mrs. Eddy on page 182 of Science and Health, and she continues, asking the question, "Which, then, are we to accept as legitimate and capable of producing the highest human good?" The multifarious demands of daily life, with their insistent clamor, press upon human consciousness. How are we to meet them; how are we to satisfy the many voices demanding time, attention, appreciation, accuracy, talent, and so on?
The key to our response lies in the statement by our Leader that it is only to thought that Deity makes His demands upon us. It is in thought, therefore, that we have to acquiesce in His demands in order that all legitimate human requirements may be met. By introducing new thoughts, spiritual thoughts, Christian Science leavens consciousness with Truth and changes it, slowly or rapidly, from materiality to spirituality. This change in human thinking results from the teaching of this Science that Spirit is real; whereas matter is unreal. This change of base eventually permeates one's entire thinking and lifts it from the belief of life in matter into a realization of life as spiritual.
The teaching of Christian Science is contrary to the general drift of thought, in which the inclination is always towards the line of least resistance. The most fertile field for the reception and development of this new idea is the unprejudiced Christian thought—the thought already prepared for the final revelation of Christ, Truth, by the acceptance of Jesus as the Way-shower. The acceptance of Jesus' life and teaching is therefore a necessary prerequisite for the intelligent study of Christian Science.
Men have sought God in various ways and through various forms of prayer or worship. Christian Science exalts consecrated living of the truth in daily life. Such dedication is true worship, the spiritual desire born in the heart and made visible in daily actions, and not merely a recital of intentions and requests. True prayer is consistent effort to gain the perfection that Jesus demanded. This prayer is a withdrawal from matter as substance in all its forms, a denial of matter's intelligence or its claims upon mankind. Unless thought strives to keep pace with words, prayer is a vain repetition. True prayer regenerates and heals through bringing our desires into line with the divine demands.
True prayer does not attempt to influence God to fulfill our desires. It brings our thought into a right relationship with Him and enables us to fulfill His demands upon us. Supplication alone does not accomplish this, nor can supplication alone confer understanding. The elevation of thought to the contemplation of the infinite, combined with the right mental attitude towards mankind, leads us into a greater understanding of Truth, and this is the real purpose of worship.
The consecration of thought to the gaining of a greater understanding of Truth must of course lead heavenward, and the highest worship is expressed in such consecration. Elevated thinking so enhances our ability to see creation as God has made it that such thinking confers dominion over all the circumstances of human existence.
Christian Science reveals God as Mind and man as His infinite manifestation. True worship is the realization of this truth. That is the change which takes place fundamentally in our prayer, which becomes realization instead of mere supplication. Worship, therefore, becomes the realization of God's omnipotence, His love for His idea, man, and the inalienable right of men to know and express this true relationship, so fulfilling God's demands. Worship ceases to be a formal matter of mere church attendance and oral prayer and becomes an influence permeating every thought and action.
Even a momentary realization that man, the image and likeness of God, Spirit, is not material but spiritual and therefore has God-given dominion can heal us of physical disease and mental anxiety. Many people are learning to devote their first moments in the morning to this kind of worship, embracing in thought the day's demands. This action transforms the daily task from a tiresome chore to a great assignment, a step in the processing of spiritual transformation.
It makes no difference what the problem seems to be, every belief of matter must be overcome with the conscious power which derives from an understanding of Life as God. We should beware of making allowances for material law or what are known as physiology and psychology. We cannot acknowledge the supremacy of Principle and at the same time allow for the demands of mortal opinions. We must obey Paul's injunction to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Cor. 10:5). We must obey all the divine demands. With one God, one Life, we have one law of health and no need of any other. Divine law governs man in perfect harmony.
To experience this harmony in our daily life requires a revolution in thinking, a reversal of each material counterfeit that the senses perceive, in order that its true significance may be understood. We must learn what it means to be born again. Yet we do not have to sacrifice the beauty of earth, the loveliness of humanity, the zest for living. We only learn to see order instead of discord; co-operation instead of opposition; love instead of anger; and generosity instead of jealousy. When the evils are cast out of our own thinking, we see with clearer vision.
Two students of Christian Science, a man and his wife, had lived through a difficult period of the war without a home of their own. The time came when they were given notice to leave their flat because the owner of the house objected to the children. There seemed nowhere to go, and at first they felt resentful at what they considered an unfair action. At that time housing seemed a national and world-wide problem. They searched the town for accommodation with no success. At last, putting aside the urgent demand for a material home, they made up their minds to pray more earnestly but to continue with their daily work, fulfilling the many demands upon them without worry over their need for a home.
In the course of his business, the husband came one day upon an address he recognized as that of a customer who was behind in her payments on her account. He was tempted to pass the house because he had already tried twice unsuccessfully to find the woman at home. He saw clearly, however, that his duty demanded that he go again; so he resisted the temptation to go by. The customer joyfully paid her account, saying that she had lost the address of his office. When he was about to go, she asked him if he knew of a family who would like to share her very large house, as it was an expense for her to keep up and too large for her.
Within a few days the man and his family moved in. They spent a happy period of their lives in that house, while the husband served as a Reader in a branch church, and his customer began to study Christian Science. This Science was a great comfort to her in later years when she was left with a family to educate on her own. All this came about from the man's recognizing and satisfying the divine demand made upon the thinking of an individual.
Divine Love always supplies our human needs when the demand to spiritualize our thought is met.
