There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
Thus Shakespeare recognized the divine influence operating in the affairs of mankind. This divine influence is sometimes thought of as determining our destiny, which one dictionary defines as "the predetermined course of events often conceived as a resistless power or agency." Christian Science shows that destiny is determined by the operation of God's law, an irresistible spiritual force, ever active in human consciousness, impelling mankind to awaken from the dream of material sense and to acknowledge man's spiritual status.
To grasp the meaning of destiny in Science we must learn that God maintains and controls man, who is wholly spiritual, in accordance with absolute spiritual law. To understand that man lives under the mandate of the divine Mind enables us to demonstrate divine law, which counteracts and destroys the erroneous belief of mortal destiny that claims to govern mankind through fear of evil, accident, disease, loss, sin, and death. When one acknowledges and understands the fundamental truth of man's spiritual being and inevitably good destiny, he experiences healing and other blessings resulting from the operation of God's law, for harmony and joy accompany the awakening to spiritual reality. The Christian Scientist, having spiritually perceived the scientific fact that God's law governs all real activity, proves the practicality of scientific understanding by demonstrating obedience to divine Principle, God, and performing his human tasks well.
Jesus' career is a perfect example of lifelong obedience to the law of God. He declared (John 6:38), "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." The New Testament is filled with accounts of healing of all types of sin and disease accomplished by Jesus and his followers, all of which show that obedience to God through the understanding of divine law heals mankind. In order that we may demonstrate the same healing power we must attain spiritual consciousness, which alone comprehends God's will, the essence of divine law.
In the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans the Apostle Paul presents a clear exposition of the liberating power of God's law and the corresponding nullity of so-called mortal law, which, though claiming to control men, is only an illusion of false mortal consciousness. Paul writes, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." That each one can have the understanding to work out his divine destiny as the result of the unfoldment of spiritual law in consciousness is indicated when Paul says: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." Thus spiritual sonship is seen to be in fulfillment of divine decree.
The Christianly scientific sense of destiny dispels the erroneous theological belief that God has foreordained salvation only for the elect and has predestined the rest of humanity to everlasting condemnation. Such belief would attempt to restrict God's goodness, which is infinite or unlimited, to certain individuals and sects. In contrast to this theory, Science explains that the understanding of God as Love, or Mind, frees men from the claims of false theology, superstition, fatalism, astrology, human will, and the belief that they are inevitably subject to material circumstances and vicissitudes. Thus Science reveals not only the scope and meaning of divine destiny, but also the powerlessness of evil to thwart that destiny.
The revelation of Christian Science to Mary Baker Eddy was truly "according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11). In "Retrospection and Introspection" (pp. 13-15) Mrs. Eddy tells us that even as a young girl she refused to accept the false theological doctrine of predestination, a requirement for membership in the Congregational church, with which she wished to unite. When examined on this question she stated that she could not accept the doctrine and gave her reason for dissenting. Nevertheless, she was unconditionally admitted to membership. Mrs. Eddy goes on to relate (ibid., p. 24) that in later years, when suffering from a supposedly fatal injury, she caught a glimpse of the ever-present healing power of divine law and that this spiritual revelation brought about her complete recovery.
Throughout her career our Leader, through her understanding of the irresistible law of God, rebuked the lawless belief of mortal destiny. From the knowledge gained by her own victory over evil she wrote (No and Yes, p. 34): "Physical torture affords but a slight illustration of the pangs which come to one upon whom the world of sense falls with its leaden weight in the endeavor to crush out of a career its divine destiny." Mrs. Eddy's steadfast recognition of man's real nature and destiny enabled her to prove powerless the machinations of evil she encountered in the form of personal animosity and worship of personality. Our great Leader never allowed herself to be deterred from fulfilling her divinely appointed mission—that of revealing and explaining Truth to this age and establishing the Church of Christ, Scientist, which makes the healing truth available to all mankind.
Today many Christian Scientists are proving that, even though God does not know the material experiences of humanity, the realization of divine Mind's presence establishes harmony in human activity. This was simply illustrated to one student of Christian Science who found that she could plan her activities more intelligently when she maintained in consciousness truths concerning the operation of divine law. She had made train reservations well in advance for a trip to be undertaken for an unselfish purpose. However, shortly before she was to return home, train schedules were curtailed because of a national emergency, and many passengers found their reservations canceled. The Scientist, having prayerfully prepared for the journey by realizing that Mind's omniscient intelligence directs man and that all of man's activities are governed by divine law, found that the schedule of the train on which her reservations had been made had not been curtailed, and her trip was completed without inconvenience.
"What God knows, He also predestinates; and it must be fulfilled," writes Mrs. Eddy in "No and Yes" (p. 37). It was our Leader's great spiritual insight which enabled her to perceive and explain to mankind the operation of divine law, which unveils one's divine destiny by revealing man's inherent spirituality. Through this revelation we can all work out our destiny according to God's direction.
