When we view present events or review past ones, it is well to rid ourselves of a false belief that, in the Science of being, we have experienced or are presently experiencing activity or existence apart from God.
Let us face up to issues humbly and honestly as our great Master, Christ Jesus, did. He acknowledged that it was the Father, divine Mind, who provided the intelligence by which he acted, the spiritual power he reflected in his successful healing and redemptive ministry. For example, he said (John 5:19), "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
So we see that neither God nor man exists alone. Each is indispensable to the other. No Father, no son—no son, no Father: but God is Father, and man, His perfect spiritual idea, is son. God and man, Father and son, are coexistent in Truth and in Love. Knowing these truths, we may adapt them to meet the human need, whether the need be the emancipation of mortals from false appetites and passions, from unjust human opinions and decisions, or from biased creeds and dogmas.
Through his spiritual understanding of the Word of God, one who is God's obedient servant preaches and teaches and heals with divine authority. He enriches the needy, the spiritually impoverished but receptive thought. He restores reality, the truth of being, to the consciousness of those who may have been falsely instructed by the well-meaning but spiritually uninformed zealot.
Perfect God and His perfect reflection, man, coexistent! The understanding of this truth alone spells successful fruition in any line of endeavor. This perfect spiritual unity may be manifested humanly in daily harmonious relationships with our fellowmen on the highways, in the skyways, in hotels and motels, in schools and offices, and among church members—in fact, wherever people live or work together.
The study of Christian Science and the instruction given in Sunday School enable parents and children to recognize man's active unity with God. Through this recognition they become mutually cooperative and appreciative, and this attitude helps them to live and work happily together.
On the other hand work very often becomes arduous and lacking in zest when any of us, either adults or children, imagine we are alone, acting apart from the divine source of our being. When we fail to realize the availability of such spiritual resources as wisdom, love, joy, intuition, on which we may confidently lean, we suffer anxiety or confusion, either one of which may lead to strained, even temporarily ruptured, human relationships or discordant bodily conditions.
When the time comes that we humbly admit that in order to achieve legitimate and commendable aims we need strength and wisdom beyond our human ability, we find that Scriptural research is a wise procedure. This study reveals many inspiring passages that bring understanding and show us how to prove that God and man coexist.
God selects as workers in His vineyard the obedient and faithful who choose to follow His leadings to the best of their understanding. Through willingness and much chastening they learn to apply accurately many divine rules and mandates in working out their own salvation or that of others from the belief that they are separated from God, good. Progressively, by patient step or rapid stride, they yield to the power and the demands of divine law, the demands for active, cooperative, kindly living. They reflect the potency of infinite Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. False traits of character, all the negative murmurings of the carnal mind, need to be challenged and disposed of, for they tend to obstruct constructive endeavor. Christian Science helps us overcome these carnal tendencies by revealing man's true nature, the sum total of his goodness as the reflection of God.
In Philippians we read (2:13), "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." God works through us, of course, only as we willingly obey Him, as we utilize His gifts to us, His manifold qualities, which He bounteously bestows on us as our permanent heritage. So then our work is not, nor can it be, a matter of "not me, but Thee"; rather it is "Thee and me," God and man, coexistent, bringing divine law into activity and fruitage among men and nations, fulfilling God's purposes.
Awareness of the priceless unity of spiritual activity is the direct result of prayerful metaphysical work, wherein we bring human will into subjection to the divine. This is true achievement. "The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible," we read on page 199 of Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy.
By means of earnest metaphysical work many Christian Scientists are prepared successfully to complete divinely appointed tasks. They earnestly endeavor to be faithful, to listen for divine guidance, and thus to harmonize with God and with their fellow workers. They obey to the best of their ability, based on their spiritual understanding, the requisite laws and rules that make for healthy cooperation. After they have done all, they stand in the precious promise given in "Miscellaneous Writings" by Mrs. Eddy (p. 158), "Let us be faithful and obedient, and God will do the rest."
Like our great Way-shower, and like our Leader, let us be faithful and obedient. Then we can confidently cast on the Lord whatever burdens we seem to bear alone. Love is ever with man, and the understanding of this truth will lift our burdens. Earth weights will be released, anxious loads of care will drop away as more and more we rejoice in our understanding that with God's help our righteous activities will be accomplished, not laboriously but joyously. Then, like our spiritual endeavors, our human activities will be not only more fruitful but more enjoyable. We shall be proving that God and man are coexistent in Science.
