SOONER or later in Christian Science we come face to face with a soul-searching choice: that of obeying a spiritual command or submitting to a material demand. And usually a material demand is accompanied by a threat of loss or harm if we do not comply with it. Is human suffering of some sort the inevitable result of strict adherence to divine Truth? Our study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy assures us that this is not the case, that, on the contrary, we grow stronger through such obedience and find that we have taken a big step in our spiritual progress.
Daniel was faced with such a choice. A royal decree demanded that he either discontinue his worship of the one God and address his supplications to the person of the king or be cast into a den of lions. In spite of the threat, Daniel rejected this material demand and persisted in obeying the spiritual command—to acknowledge God and serve Him alone. His steadfast obedience did not prevent his spending a long night with the lions, but it did take him through this ordeal safely. "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God" (Dan. 6:23).
Daniel obeyed God "because he believed in his God." His believing was no superficial acceptance of religious doctrine; this would not have given him the courage to defy the king's demand. Nor was his obedience stubborn human loyalty to an unknown, unknowable deity; this would not have saved him from bodily harm. The spiritually scientific basis of Daniel's obedience to God is revealed in Mrs. Eddy's definition of the word "believing" on page 582 of Science and Health, part of which reads, "Firmness and constancy; not a faltering nor a blind faith, but the perception of spiritual Truth."
