As a boy I found it difficult to obey the law, which I saw as a threat to my freedom. I would hang on the back of moving lorries, climb to the top of sky-high factory smokestacks, and sin of sins, even ride my bike in that sanctum of the pedestrian, the public park. All of this with a wary eye for the village bobby, in whose estimation I did not rank high.
One day I answered a knock at the door to see him looking down at me from under that awe-inspiring helmet. "He's come to get me at last," I thought, shaking in my shoes. But, rather than the call of retribution, it turned out to be a solicitous inquiry after my welfare because of a gas leak in the road.
What! An officer of the dreaded law expressing concern for my well-being? I had always thought of law as punitive and restrictive, never kind and considerate.
My attitude changed after that because the dread of law began to fade. I became cooperative instead of rebellious and resistant. I came to see the law as servant and protector of the public, motivated by love, rather than as a tyrannical master.
Authentic law cannot possibly operate independently of love. If it seems to do so, the appearance will lose credibility and even authority when the following facts are accepted. Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, found biblical authority for describing God's nature in seven synonymous terms, two of which are Principle and Love. The others, of equal importance, are Life, Truth, Mind, Soul, Spirit. Principle, the basic cause of all that is real, expresses the infinite detail of God's universe, maintaining its order through law. The synonym Love describes the caring aspect of God's character, giving cohesion and purpose to all creation. Each quality of the divine nature must act in harmony with the others, or God would be fragmented and chaotic instead of being the infinite One.
Officialdom of all kinds—police, customs, immigration, and tax officials, as well as penal workers—can take on a softer, more sympathetic aspect to us when viewed through the lens of love. The Discoverer of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy, states, "Love is the fulfilling of the law: it is grace, mercy, and justice."Miscellaneous Writings, p. 11.
Although Principle is also Love, this does not mean that one can commit serious wrong with impunity. In fact, the divine penalty for a broken moral or spiritual law may seem more exacting than any punishment emanating from a human source. The caring nature of Love, unable to abandon its object to error, impersonally enforces reformation until obedience is restored.
Misguided cultures and nations have sometimes embarked upon lawless and ruinous ventures, simply because the love quality (often called feminine, but actually present in each of us) has not been given sufficient prominence. That is, love has not been allowed to influence decisions along more humane and law-abiding lines. This mistake is corrected as Principle becomes more real to human consciousness and obedience to the Golden Rule advances.
The revealed truth of God and man in Christian Science may be evident today in the legitimate efforts for fairer laws and practices relating to women. Because God's law, obeyed, removes prejudice and oppression, more equitable legislation for the whole race is bound to emerge as humanity becomes more obedient to God. Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, informs us, "The so-called law of mortal mind, conjectural and speculative, is made void by the law of immortal Mind, and false law should be trampled under foot."Science and Health, p. 229.
The magnitude of falsity in any human law is commensurate with the truth it hides. Our Leader observes, "Human law is right only as it patterns the divine."The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 283.Mortal mind's biggest lie and most cruel law states that we all must die. But the law of Love, as demonstrated through Christ Jesus, enables us finally to prove our immortality. St. Paul says, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."Rom. 8:2.
Suppose we've been caught off guard and penalized for some violation or other. We have paid the penalty to satisfy the human law and also learned our spiritual lesson. Perhaps a need for more patience, trust, honesty, or love has been detected, and an earnest effort to do better has been made. Then we can affirm the truth—that Principle operates also as Love—and appeal to Love's law of justice. We can trust that whatever is necessary to restore lawful thought and conduct will take place by the operation of this law—provided we have done our part. "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten" Joel 2:25.expresses God's law of love.
Law without love would be harsh indeed. But Christ Jesus, our great Teacher, fulfilled the Mosaic law through love. John was inspired to say, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17.
Love-governed law is implicit in the Golden Rule, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12.When this Christian precept is universally practiced, it will transform earth to heaven. And because spiritual progress is the law of Love, eventual fulfillment of the Golden Rule is as irresistible as tomorrow's dawn.
