If we assume that life and intelligence are in the human body, we may conclude that God comes into the framework of human organization in which our bodies participate. We then tend to work out our organizational relationships with the expectancy that they have God's sanction. In doing this, however, we ignore the fundamental point in Christian Science that man is the spiritual expression of God, the one Mind.
God is never in physical organization called the human body. Nor is He in any other material organization. God, Mind, unfolds His own pattern of goodness and love. Man, as Mind's inseparable expression, participates in this unfoldment. Knowing this, we gain comforting assurance, for it is by yielding to divine Love's directing that we find ourselves making truly satisfying progress. We begin to feel God's blessing in our increasing inspiration, confidence, and strength.
As we glimpse our pure selfhood in Love's illumination, we reject and relinquish the limited and limiting views of ourselves and of others. We perceive, in humble gratitude, that our affairs move with greater harmony and steadiness along the currents of irresistible Love. We experience some of the blessings implicit in Mrs. Eddy's statement, "Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual,—they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite,—in order that sin and mortality may be put off."Science and Health, p.265;
In seeking the spiritual revelation of our true being, we gain a clearer sense of the infinite resources of the one Mind. In the face of our growing spiritual dominion the aggressiveness of human will, the frustration of unappreciated effort, the ups and downs of organizational adjustments and changes, fade into insignificance. As we know that our spiritual identity offers no point of contact to discord and dissension, we can see these errors as unreal. We deprive them of any authority when we hold to the spiritual truth.
As we listen for Love's commands, we understand more fully the true brotherhood we share in divine Love with all our fellows. This is the basis for our effective and happy relationships with others. In this true brotherhood each one is unfolding the purposes of God within the gentle bonds of wisdom and love. In the atmosphere of His love, God unifies and harmonizes us beyond all human planning. God's purpose for every one of His children is good, and only good.
Why, then, need we bother with organization? Paul was particularly vigorous in establishing churches. Mrs. Eddy faced and answered the same question as to the need for organization. She answered it a number of times, as in a statement made in March, 1892, when Christian Scientists in Boston were meeting informally as a voluntary association: "If our church is organized, it is to meet the demand, 'Suffer it to be so now.' The real Christian compact is love for one another. This bond is wholly spiritual and inviolate."Miscellaneous Writings, p. 91; Six months later The Mother Church was established. In the ensuing years Mrs. Eddy showed her conviction of the lasting need for organization in the writing of the Rules and By-Laws of the Manual of The Mother Church. They constitute the fundamental and irrevocable organizational directions for the Church of Christ, Scientist.
As long as a material world seems to confront us, as long as we appear to have material bodies to heal, the need and use for organization remain. Organization can be a blessing. But we should keep our view of it in proper perspective. We need to see order and structure as God-derived. Then our churches and other institutions will express more spiritual control—just as our bodies express more health when we submit to divine Truth.
Dealing with organization through spiritual dominion requires continual prayer. Paul was very much aware of this need. In his epistles he frequently mentions his prayers in behalf of the Christian churches.
Organization under the direction of prayerful inspiration can help bring about orderliness, consistency, freedom, and growth. But if the organization is allowed to proceed on a merely human basis, without Love at the helm, it can become repressive rather than responsive, dictatorial rather than inspirational, denying growth rather than fostering it. The exigencies of organizational convenience may then replace loving service to mankind.
How important, then, that we make certain that every activity supporting our deepest convictions is kept close to our hearts in prayer. The scientific, spiritual truth, realized, is the basic and most effective contribution each of us can make.
Prayer that helps us see each member of an organization under Love's irresistible control is ever productive of good. It removes restrictive fears and organizational deafness. It supports a freer sense of appreciation and receptivity, wherein we can expect effective decisions to be made.
Of course we cannot outline what answers will be forthcoming as we bring everything under divine Love's control. But our willingness to put aside human will and yield to Love's government in our affairs lets Love unfold its own answers, and we can recognize these true answers by the harmony and joy they bring us. They give us a deep sense of assurance that all is well and that Love is All-in-all. They help us work well together.
Sometimes in our organizational activities we may be obliged to take a spiritual stand, utterly relying on divine Love's control amid the most adverse circumstances. We may feel alone, even under attack. There may be pressures for us to conform to set opinions or accepted patterns currently popular or being fostered. Organizational fear may appear to predominate. No matter—we find our strength and protection as we turn completely to divine Love for insight and guidance, and for the humility that waits on omnipotent Love to unfold its own perfect work. We find right results that correspond to our spiritual intent.
This spiritual commitment is of inestimable value to any organization with a right purpose. It produces the courage and foresight that lead to the best conditions for all concerned. It ensures that both we and the organization are serving God in the wisdom of divine Love's unfolding design—it blesses all.
Spiritual commitment is as essential to schools, business institutions, and political and government organizations as it is to the church. It is needed to undergird international relationships. Nothing escapes the law of God, nor our responsibility to recognize this law. Can we, then, confine our prayers to the four walls of a church or to the comfortable warmth of a home? Divine Love knows no bounds. Neither can we when we recognize man as Love's expression. There is nothing impossible in the fulfillment of this inescapable demand for spiritual living. It simply means that we quietly and joyfully acknowledge the all-presence of divine Love as the source of man and the universe—and live out from that fundamental fact of our being.
Eternal Life, which is our Life and includes all life, is perfect and complete here and now. In the peace and deep satisfaction of feeling Love's control over all, we pray, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."Matt. 6:10. We can know, without reservation, that God's will is being done, here, now, and forever. This spiritual fact, loved and proved, takes care of us, our organizations, and all mankind.
