BX 6945 C5L3 UC-NRLF *B ET7 fi3M CO CD Syracuse, N. Y. Stockton, Calif. LAW AND WORK LOVE FULFILS LAW THE LOGIC OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE UNDISTURBED GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT AUTHORITY Articles republished from the Christian Science periodicals THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY FALMOUTH AND ST. PAUL STREETS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS U. S. A. Copyright, 1916, by The Christian Science Publishing Society. LAW AND WORK LOVE FULFILS LAW IN a little book by Professor Drummond we read: "Every one has asked himself the great question of antiquity as of the modern world: What is the summum bonum — the supreme good? You have life before you. Once only you can live it. What is the noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?" He then goes on to speak of faith and the need of possessing it, and quotes from Paul, "If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (Rev. Ver.); to which he adds Paul's striking climax, "Now abideth faith, hope, love, . . . and the greatest of these is love." Pro- fessor Drummond therefore called his book "The Greatest Thing in the World," and so beautiful is it, and so unanswerable, that Mrs. Eddy once said she had intended to write such a book herself, but Pro- fessor Drummond had done it so well that he had saved her the effort. Professor Drummond reminds us that Peter says, "Above all things have fervent love among your- selves," and that John goes even farther in his decla- ration that "God is love." Love being the greatest thing in the world, it should and does demand our attention. What greater need is there than that we 4 LAW AND WORK should contemplate it, desire it, and possess it? Love is the potent factor in all good. We may safely say that the work which Christian Scientists do for hu- manity, the work which tells, the work which brings about demonstration, is inspired by this wonderful love, the greatest thing in the world. When love for humanity takes possession of the heart, it dominates every other affection and desire, unless we except the love for God which is so akin to it. This love for our fellows manifests itself in a constant effort to benefit mankind. Throughout the ages men and women have abandoned the home life, with its beau- tiful conditions and accompaniments, and devoted themselves unselfishly to the amelioration of sorrow, sickness, sin, and death itself. All this has been done without the knowledge of Christian Science, without the understanding which alone can utterly destroy these enemies of the happiness of man. This love, the reflection of the Love which we call God, good, is ever impelling us to greater effort, and we cannot afford to ignore His call to a higher life, since only by the measure of the love we entertain in our hearts can we be assured that we are reflect- ing the divine. "Love is impartial and universal" (Science and Health, p. 13) ; and is our rock, our bul- wark, and our defense. It is also the energy which moves creation; it is the fountain of effort; it is the essence of all true power. It is inexorable in de- mands which can be answered only by itself. The sooner we become at-one with it, banishing from LOVE FULFILS LAW 5 consciousness everything unlike God, good, the sooner we become aUied with the motive power of the universe. Wherever we may be, no matter how humble and seemingly unattractive our surroundings, Love can be relied upon to relieve any discomfort of our en- vironment. Whatever our occupation or duty, the manifestation of divine Love ever begets harmony and smooths our way. It puts aside obstruction, wraps us in the folds of infinite compassion, and brings us a consciousness of the effulgence and glory of the divine presence. Whatever our sins, our sufferings, our woes, or our mistakes. Love with its infinite law casts these beliefs into the outer darkness, the nothingness of oblivion, and clothes us in the shining raiment of purity, health, and per- fection. To understand Love means to heal the sick; to manifest Love means to bless mankind. "Clad in the panoply of Love," as Science and Health tells us (p. 571), "human hatred cannot reach you." It is the destroyer of evil, the fulfilment of the law. Do we as Christian Scientists sufficiently understand this? Do we believe it? Do we strive for the pres- ence of this heavenly visitor in consciousness? Are we sure that we want it? When we subject thought to Love's tests, do we wonder why our patients are not always healed, why we are not happy, why our demonstrations lag, why our consciousness is barren of health and joy and peace and dominion? 6 LAW AND WORK Mrs. Eddy says, "Keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them'' (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210). A mind so filled dominates whatever would oppose the truth, be it sickness, sin, misfortune, or distress of any kind. The hem of the garment, the outermost circle of thought of such a one, effects healing by its touch. In this thought there must be no envy, no criticism, no ambition, no hatred, no malice, not even the unkind avoidance of one's fellows: nothing but the loving desire to reflect the divine consciousness. In the article on Obedience found in "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says (p. 117), "Obedience is the offspring of Love; and Love is the Principle of unity, the basis of all right thinking and acting; it fulfils the law." It is therefore seen that the manifes- tation of Love, which we have been urging, requires obedience to the divine Principle of Life, and to find and understand its rule is the duty of the Christian. Scientist. That there should be any divergence of opinion as to the rule governing, is one of the lament- able facts which mortal mind prescribes, and one which all have to meet. The attainment of unity of opinion as to the duty and the rule governing man- kind is one of the problems to be solved through the understanding of the ever-presence and all-power of Love. That people should differ sometimes regarding questions pertaining to the application and use of LOVE FULFILS LAW 7 Christian Science, is not surprising. Only in axioms and fundamental truths do we find solid ground be- neath our feet. These fundamentals of Science, its absolute statements, its positive declarations, its self-evident propositions, we might liken, for pur- poses of illustration, to the structure or framework of a building. These must conform to the laws of architecture. In order to provide shelter, to be strong, to be able to support its roof, its floors,, and the weight that will rest upon it and in it, the struc- ture must scientifically meet all the demands which will be made upon it. But when it comes to the material used in its walls, its ornamentation, its color, its shape, etc., the drapery, so to speak, of the building, it is permitted that climate, environment, expense, taste, and the purpose for which it is con- structed, shall govern. Likewise in the externalization of scientific under- standing in man, after the demands of absolute Science are complied with, he is influenced by the class to which he belongs, his environment, his educa- tion, the work to which he decides that his under- standing must be applied, and by the mental attitude in which Science finds him. Nevertheless, the funda- mentals, if properly understood, will influence every part of his being and every line of his thought. If two men, different in race, color, and training, were to become interested in Christian Science at the same time, it is probable that their ways would im- mediately begin to converge, and ultimately thef 8 LAW AND WORK would think much alike on all important subjects. But during this convergence, we can readily see that although the impulsion was the same in each, in be- lief it would be a long time before the influences that seemingly control mankind could be sufficiently overcome to render them very similar. In our inter- course with our fellows it seems that this condition of things should be recognized, and that we should make due allowance in our estimate of one another for these secondary manifestations. Everything that is not Science is its opposite; this we know and all admit; but every time we meet some one who differs from us in opinion or in the apprehension and scien- tific rule and action, we need not necessarily think that he must therefore be avoided and condemned. Science should make us very loving, very compassion- ate and forgiving. Those who are Christian Scientists well know the temptations and pitfalls through which a Scientist must wend his way; they know the influences which abound in the human mind and how wary and indus- trious one must be to pursue his course without en- countering them; but they also know that the only man there is, is the image and likeness of God, with- out blemish and without spot. Hence, we have to consider only the condition of thought which we be- lieve governs our neighbor in the main and to forgive an occasional lapse from what we regard as perfec- tion, even as we would desire him to forgive us under like circumstances. The rain falls "on the just and LOVE FULFILS LAW 9 on the unjust;" the sun shines aUke upon the green pastures and upon the desert, which seemingly de- rives no benefit therefrom, and we are told that "God is no respecter of persons." So the love that is near- est to the divine, **the greatest thing in the world," dwelling in the hearts of men, not only blesses the near and dear ones, but impersonally blesses every one, and everything that the thought of that man embraces. Speaking of this silent influence of love, Professor Drummond relates: "In the heart of Africa, among the great lakes, I have come across black men and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw before — David Livingstone; and as you cross his footsteps in that dark continent, men's faces light up as they speak of the kind doctor who passed there years ago. They could not understand him; but they felt the love that beat in his heart." By attuning our hearts to the God who is Love, and by reflecting His radiance upon all that sur- rounds us, the beauty of our lives will brighten and bless, not only our own pathway, but the pathway of the many who tread with us the rugged road that leads from sense to Soul, where Love is supreme over all. Mrs. Kate Davidson Kimball. THE LOGIC OF. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE LOGIC has been defined as the science on which correct thought depends, the art of attaining, by argument, a correct conclusion, and avoiding an in- correct conclusion. The truths embodied in the the- ology of Christian Science are based upon a right understanding of God and His attributes, which leads to correct scientific conclusions as to the divine na- ture of creator and creation. There can be no doubt that the "superb logic" which characterizes all of Mrs. Eddy's writings, makes an appeal to the man on the street who is able to follow and to appreciate the value of the convincing arguments he finds in the teaching of Christian Science. A careful and sys- tematic study of Mrs. Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and her other writings, will make it apparent to the student that her process of reasoning is the essence of pure logic. Every syllogism in Science and Health is based upon Bible texts. God is perfect, infinite, one, the only creator, and the sequence leads to the conclusion that there is one perfect, infinite creation or universe. God is noumenon, universe is phenomena, the full and complete expression of God. God and man are inseparable — a logical fact uttered by Jesus when he said, "I and my Father are one." 10 THE LOGIC OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 11 It is a well established rule of all logical processes, that a complete conclusion is as binding and neces- sary as are the premises from which it is drawn. Mrs. Eddy's argument is distinguished by her insist- ence on the importance and validity of this rule, in its application to all conclusions relating to God and His attributes. She says : "Inductive or deductive rea- soning is correct only as it is spiritual, induced by love and deduced from God, Spirit; only as it makes manifest the infinite nature, including all law and supplying all the needs of man. Wholly hypotheti- cal, inductive reasoning reckons creation as its own creator, seeks cause in effect, and from atom and dust draws its conclusions of Deity and man, law and gospel, leaving science at the beck of material phe- nomena, or leaving it out of the question. To begin with the divine noumenon, Mind, and to end with the phenomenon, matter, is minus divine logic and plus human hypothesis, with its effects, sin, disease, and death" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 349). - By induction, Mrs. Eddy establishes the fact that there is one God, one Mind, by arguing from phenom- ena to noumenon. She reasons along these lines: The only self-evident thing in the universe is con- sciousness. If it were possible for consciousness to cease to be, nothing would be evident. Ideas, or con- scious identities, emanate from Mind, and there can be only one infinite, perfect Mind. Mrs. Eddy's de- ductive logic assumes an alone God, a supreme, self- 12 LAW AND WORK existent creator. This assumption is warranted by the fact that creation is evident, and exists as the effect of some cause. A passage in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 101) illustrates the deductive process of reasoning employed by Mrs. Eddy: "If God is All, and God is good, it follows that all must be good; and no other power/ law, or intelligence can exist. On this proof rest premise and conclusion in Science, and the facts that disprove the evidence of the senses." The test of the logic of Christian Science is found in its practical application to every need of material existence. It solves every problem, answers every query, delivers man from all fear and doubt regard- ing present and future possibilities, and heals every form of disease, until at length the sinful human na- ture disappears, and man in the image and likeness of God is understood. Thousands of testimonies of healing are proofs of the power of logical understand- ing to commute the sentence of sin, disease, and death. Mrs. Eddy makes pertinent comment on the falla- cious logic of current theology, in the following pas- sage from "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 27) : "That God, good, creates evil, or aught that can result in evil, — or that Spirit creates its opposite, named matter, — are conclusions that destroy their premise and prove themselves invalid. Here is where Chris- tian Science sticks to its text, and other systems of religion abandon their own logic." Mrs. Eddy's process of reasoning has always re- THE LOGIC OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 13 mained constant and loyal to the logic which affirms the allness of infinite Principle, ever present and ever active. She has been consistent in her fidelity to the supreme logic of one perfect creator and one perfect creation. Her reasoning is as clear and definite as is that of mathematics. Mrs. Eddy does not hesitate to carry to its complete conclusion the initial truth of creation recorded in the first verse of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Because God is the only creator of all that ' is, because God is good, is Life, there can be no opposite of God, no evil, no matter, no sin, sickness, or death, and this logical reasoning comes to the diseased and the sinful, to heal and to give higher and purer ideals of spiritual existence. A multitude of witnesses give evidence of instanta- neous healing, which invariably comes to the individ- ual consciousness which is prepared to acknowledge, at once and without argument, the logical consist- ency of the reasoning process found in Science and Health. The searcher for truth finds in this book a heaUng argumentum ad hominem. The sick, the discordant, the unhappy, as well as evil thinkers and evil doers, h^ve been healed by a logical comprehen- sion of the scientific fact that an evil or depraved state of mind, or a diseased body, are without a cause. When the sick or the sinful become con- vinced that it is logically and scientifically impossible for man to be sick or to be less than perfect idea, they are willing to part with a false belief that they 14 LAW AND WORK can be separated for an instant from the Mind that is infinite good. The complete teaching of Christian Science includes a universal salvation from the evil brood of counterfeits and lies about the reality of eternal and perfect noumenon and phenomena. Not once after Mrs. Eddy made her spiritual discovery of the oneness and allness of God, did she falter in her serene understanding of the logic of Christian Science. Is it any wonder, then, that the logician, however loath he may be to admit it, is compelled to admire the mighty logic of Mrs. Eddy's reasoning from prem- ise to conclusion. Or is it any wonder that the weary and heavy laden, the hopeless and forlorn, the sick and the sinner, are encouraged to expect that they may be saved, with the hope of deliverance based on the new-born awakening to an understand- ing of the truth of being? WILLARD S. MATTOX. UNDISTURBED THE world is crying for peace, — peace among nations, in families, in the heart. Is it willing to pay the price for it? Surely all who covet peace would do well to consider what the word peace means to them ; what the peace they would have might mean to some one else. Peace signifies a state of quiet or tranquillity, calm, repose, security, ease; to rest in confidence, quietness of mind or conscience, — and can one be quiet or tranquil if he is fearful, anxious, disturbed? Has he any right to be, if he has work left undone; if he is harboring any wrong thought? It has been said many times by those who have put their hands to the Christian Science plow: "I thought by being in Christian Science I would find peace; but I seem to be more disturbed than ever. I find more to do than I ever dreamed there could be." Suppose a room dimly lighted by a faint gleam. One comes in and looks it over. There are easy chairs; the room seems richly furnished, spacious; it appears to be very inviting, very comfortable. He heaves a sigh of contentment and sits down to rest. It is very pleasant in this room, and he is quite satis- fied to remain there, thinking he has found just what he long has sought. After a time the day begins to break ; the light comes in more abundantly, and with 15 16 LAW AND WORK its increase the visitor begins to see that the walls and ceiling are cracked, dusty, stained, and the cor- ners full of cobwebs; the furnishings are shabby, faded, moth-eaten, marred. What is he to do? Shall he cry for the darkness to hide the defects, or wel- come the light that has brought the uncovering? take the means he has at hand, go to work, clean and renovate the room, transform it entire by the right renewing? This will mean work, hard, patient, per- sistent effort on his part, but does any one question that it is worth while? Science is the search-light of Truth. It reaches every nook and cranny, and will not leave one place for error of any name or nature to hide in: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." Respect- ing this Mrs. Eddy says, "The prophet referred to divine law as stirring up the belief in evil to its utmost, when bringing it to the surface and reducing it to its common denominator, nothingness'* (Science and Health, p. 540). To the deceived thought that would be content with a false sense of peace in the unrenovated room, the light seems trying; it brings to Hght the objectionable and distressing. Saith the prophet, "The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes [to our peace] we are healed." The transgression of a false sense of peace and contentment, which is only another name for blindness (ignorance), is upon every one today, and Truth is declaring, "Let there be light." UNDISTURBED 17 If we would have the peace of Jesus the Christ, it must be the peace of overcoming, the peace that comes from first seeing the error to be overcome; that rejoices in the revelations of the light which probes into mortal consciousness, uncovers and dis- covers all that is unlike the anointed, the one "al- together lovely," tender and true. We must have the "stripes" which rebuke the erroneous belief of peace, and then we shall find in our very warfare the real peace for which we longed. Some one has well said: "It is well to rise above violence, it is well to rise superior to anger; but if peace means final acquiescence with wrong, if your aim is less than justice and peace for every one, then your peace is a crime." When one finds himself crying for peace, let him ask the questions, "Peace with what? peace in what?" He who is conquering fear, envy, ambition, anxiety, sensitiveness, anger, all the passions, the works of the flesh, is not crying for peace, because he already has it. He is free from agi- tation, from disturbance. His is not the world-given peace with error, a false sense of peace that is really the opposite of peace, but rather the peace that Jesus promised, the peace of conquered sin. The peace of the greatest conquest carries with it the peace of all other conquests. It attends the overcoming of a false sense of self, the belief of a life apart from God. It is ours to face the devil, evil, not to run from it. It is ours to render to Caesar the things which be- long to Caesar, as well as to render to God the things 18 LAW AND WORK that are God's. Paul's understanding of Truth did not keep the viper from fastening upon his hand, but it did prevent his being poisoned. John's understand- ing did not keep him from being thrown into the boil- ing oil or being exiled to Patmos, but it did prevent the oil from doing him any harm, while on Patmos he received the Revelation. Daniel would not "defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank." He proved that he could eat pulse and drink water and remain strong and well; nevertheless he was thrown into the lions' den. His understanding did not keep him from being thrown in, but it brought him out unharmed. The divine promise reads: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee;" and we find this correlative passage in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 495) : "When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious — as Life eternally is — can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not." It does not say in either refer- ence, if you pass through the waters, or if the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you or the painful sense comes; it says "when." Vv^e have the whole path to UNDISTURBED 19 walk, the whole race to run, and there are tempta- tions to be overcome, the wilderness, the fire to go through, our fears to face, and right there we are to find Immanuel, "God with us;" right there we are to find peace, the true peace that passes understanding, because our understanding has been demonstrated. Just so long as one is afraid of something, he is not at peace, and need not expect to be; he must rise in the strength of God, face the fear, go through the fire and prove it powerless, reduce it to its least common denominator, nothing, then his peace cannot be taken from him or fade away. If in the dim light there is something hidden, covered, we should want the light to uncover it. We should want the light to shine more and more, even though the uncovering does compel us to work, work, work. It is the only peace that is real, that is good for anything, a peace, tran- quillity, that cannot be disturbed because it is ours through disturbance overcome. "Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses," Mrs. Eddy writes, "Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle, — is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal" (Science and Health, p. 306). We cannot separate the Scientist from Science; and so, amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, where the smoke of battle seems the thickest, right there it is ours to acquaint ourselves with God and "be at peace," the peace that will prove abiding and inviolable, j^^^^ Martha Harris Bogue. GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT MAN lives by divine decree. He is created, gov- erned, supported, and controlled in accord with the law of God. Law means or implies a rule that is estabUshed and maintained by power; that which possesses permanence and stability; that which is un- changing, unyielding, and continuous, — "the same yesterday, and today, and forever." The efficiency of law rests entirely in the power that enforces it. A law (so called) that is incapable of being enforced is not law and bears no relationship to law. God is the only creator, the only lawmaker. "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." All the power, action, intelli- gence, life, and government in the universe belong to God and have always belonged to Him. He is the Supreme Ruler, and does not share His power with another. Paul said, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." So too we know that "the law of the Spirit of life" frees us from "the law of sin and death." Why? Because all the power there is, is on the side of the law of Life, and that which is opposed to this law of Life is not law at all; it is only belief. In other words, every law of God has behind it infinite 20 GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT 21 30wer to enforce it, while the so-called law of sin and ieath has no foundation, has nothing back of it that t can depend upon. When we understandingly declare that the law of jod is present and is in operation, we have invoked )r brought into action the whole law and the power )f God. We have declared the truth, God's truth —and that truth of God is the law of annihilation, )bHteration, and elimination to everything that is inlike Him. When we have stated this truth, and ipplied it, as taught in Christian Science, to any dis- ;ordant belief with which we are confronted, we have lone all that we can do and all that is necessary for IS to do in the destruction of any manifestation of rror that ever claimed to exist. Error, which has lo place in divine Mind, claims to exist in human hought. When we have put it out of human bought, we have driven it out of the only place ;^here it ever pretended to have a foothold, and there- fter to us it becomes nothing. There is a law of God that is applicable to every onceivable phase of human experience, and no situa- Lon or condition can present itself to mortal thought rhich can possibly exist outside of the direct influ- nce of this infinite law. The effect of the operation f law is always to correct and govern, to harmonize nd adjust. Whatever is out of order or discordant an have no basic Principle of its own but must come nder the direct government of God through whaF lay be termed God's law of adjustment. We are 22 LAW AND WORK not responsible for the carrying out of this law. In fact we can do nothing in any way to increase, stimu- late, or intensify the action or operation of divine Mind, since it is constantly present, always operative, and never ceases to assert and declare itself when rightly appealed to. All we have to do is scientifically to bring this law of adjustment into contact with our unfinished problem, and when we have done this we have performed our full duty. Some one may say, **How can the law of God, operating mentally, affect my problem, which is physical?" This is easily understood when it is realized that the problem is not physical but mental. First we must know that all is Mind and that there is no such thing as matter, and thus exclude from thought the offending ma- terial sense. The original definition of the word disease is lack of ease, — discomfort, uneasiness, trouble, disquiet, annoyance, injury. "Disease," Mrs. Eddy says, "is an image of thought externalized. The mental state is called a material state. Whatever is cherished in mortal mind as the physical condition is imaged forth on the body" (Science and Health, p. 411). This also applies to heat, cold, hunger, poverty, or any form of discord, all of which are mental, though mortal mind regards them as material states. It can therefore be easily seen how the law of God, which is mental, can be applied to a physical problem. In reality the problem is not physical, but purely mental, and is the direct result of some thought cher- GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT 23 ished in mortal mind. If a man were in prison, there is a law of God which is applicable to his condition and which, if properly applied, would procure his release. If a man were drowning in mid-ocean with apparently no human help at hand, there is a law of God which, when rightly appealed to, would bring about his rescue. Does the reader doubt this? Then he must believe that it is possible for man to find himself in a condition where God cannot help him. If one were in a burning building or a railroad acci- dent, or if he were in a den of lions, there is a law of God which would at once adjust the apparent material circumstances so as instantaneously to bring about his complete deliverance. It is not necessary for us to know in each individual case just what this law of God is, nor how it is going to operate, and an attempted investigation into the why and wherefore would only serve to interfere with its operation and hinder the demonstration. Any fear on our part, occasioned by the fact that divine Mind does not know of our plight, or that infinite wisdom lacks the inteUigence necessary to bring about a rescue, should be instantly put out of thought. On page 62 of Science and Health we read: "The divine Mind, which forms the bud and blossom, will care for the human body, even as it clothes the lily; but let no mortal interfere with God's government by thrusting in the laws of erring, human concepts." The trouble with us usually is that we want to know just how God is going to help us and when the good 24 LAW AND WORK results are to be experienced; then we will pass judg- ment upon it and decide whether we are ready to trust our case in His hands. Let us see, then, where. God's law of adjustment operates. God has no need of being adjusted. The only place where there is any demand for adjustment is in human consciousness; but unless human con- sciousness appeals to the divine law, unless it is will- ing and ready to lay down its own sense of human will and stop human planning, put aside human pride, ambition, and vanity, there is no room for the law of adjustment to operate. When we in our helplessness reach the point where we see we are unable of ourselves to do anything, and then call upon God to aid us; when we are ready to show our willingness to abandon our own plans, our own opinions, our own sense of what ought to be done under the circumstances, and have no fear as to the consequences, — then God's law will take posses- sion of and govern the whole situation. We cannot expect, however, that this law will operate in our be- half if we indulge any preconceived ideas as to how it should do its work. We must completely abandon our own view of things and say, "Not my will, but thine, be done." If this step is taken with confidence and a full trust that God is capable of taking care of every circumstance, then no power on earth can pre- vent the natural, rightful, and legitimate adjustment of all discordant conditions. This law of adjustment is the universal law of GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT 25 Love, which bestows its blessings on all alike. It does not take from one and give to another. It does not withhold itself under any circumstances, but is ready, and waiting to operate as soon as the invita- tion is given and human will is set aside. "Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love," our Leader says, "receives directly the divine power" (Science and Health, p. 192). When we reach the point where we can in confidence and in trust leave everything to the settlement of God's law of adjust- ment, it will immediately relieve us of all sense of personal responsibility, remove anxiety and fear, and bring peace, comfort, and the assurance of God's protecting care. The most satisfying and comforting sense of peace and joy always follows the willingness on our part to allow God to control every situation for us through His law of adjustment. When we understand that infinite Mind is the ruler of the universe, that every idea of God is forever in its proper place, that no condition or circumstance can arise whereby a mis- take can find lodgment in God's plan, then we have the complete assurance that God is capable of adjust- ing everything as it should be. The fact is that all things are already in their rightful place; that no interference or lack of adjustment can really occur. It is only to the unenlightened human sense that there can be any such thing as discord. God's uni- verse is always in perfect adjustment, and all His ideas work together forever in perfect harmony. 26 LAW AND WORK When we are willing to give up our frightened and uncertain sense of things and let the divine Mind govern, then and then only shall we behold that "all things work together for good to them that love God." The discord which seems to be apparent is only what mortal mind believes, whether it be sickness, discom- fort, annoyance, or trouble of any kind. When we are willing to relinquish our present views, even though we may believe we are in the right and an- other in the wrong, we shall not suffer by laying down our human opinions, but rather find that the law of God is ready and active in the right adjustment of everything involved. It may sometimes seem hard when we feel that we are oppressed or imposed upon, to stop resisting, but if our faith in the power of Truth to adjust all things is sufficient, we should be glad of the opportunity to relinquish our claims and place our trust in infinite wisdom, which will adjust everything according to its own unerring law. There is no such thing as failure in the divine Mind. God is never defeated, and those who stand with Him will always receive the benefits of a victory over error. What then are we to do when we find ourselves involved in a controversy, in a dispute, or in an un- pleasant situation of any kind? What are we to do when we have been attacked and maligned, misrepre- sented or abused? Should we endeavor to return in kind what has been done to us? This would not be appealing to God's law of adjustment. So long as we endeavor to settle the diflftculty ourselves, we are GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT 27 interfering with the action of the law of God. Under any circumstance of this kind it will avail us nothing to fight back. We simply show our human weakness when we take the matter into our own hands and attempt either to punish our enemies or to extricate ourselves through any virtue of our own. In the Sermon on the Mount, that wonderful mes- sage which he left for the guidance of all humanity, Jesus said, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.'* In other words, is it not better to be smitten twice than to fight back? He further adds, "If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also." Even if we are unjustly deprived of what rightfully belongs to us, is it not better to suffer a second in- vasion than to fight back? Again he said: "Whoso- ever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." If the giving is done in a righteous cause and with the right motive, we can lose nothing thereby. Remem- ber the words of our Leader: "Giving does not im- poverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does withholding enrich us" (Science and Health, p. 79). Jesus again says: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitef ully use you, and 28 LAW AND WORK persecute you." Why all this? The answer is given in Jesus* own words, "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Here we see that divine Love is no respecter of persons and makes no distinctions in showering its blessings on what seems to be evil as well as on the good. Jesus adds: '*For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." When there seem to be two ways of working out a problem in business or in any of the various walks of life, and we decide on a way which seems best, how can we tell, when there are so many arguments against that way, whether the decision is based on Truth or error? Here is a question which can be de- cided only through the demonstration of God's law of adjustment. There are times when human wisdom is inadequate to tell us just what is the right thing to be done. Under such circumstances there is nothing for us to do but to choose that which seems to be in accord with our highest sense of right, knowing that God's law of adjustment regulates and governs all things; and even if we choose the wrong way, we as Christian Scientists have a right to know that God jvill not allow us to continue in a mistake, but will show us the right way and compel us to walk therein. GOD'S LAW OF ADJUSTMENT 29 When we have reached the point where we are willing to do what seems to us to be best and then leave the problem with God, knowing that He will ad- just everything according to His unchanging law, we can then withdraw ourselves entirely from the propo- sition, drop all sense of responsibility, and feel secure in the knowledge that God corrects and governs all things righteously. All we ever need to do is that which is pleasing in the sight of God, that which con- forms to divine requirements. If our good is evilly spoken of, this does not affect the situation in any de- gree, since God does not hold us accountable for the action of others. Our responsibility ceases when we have complied with the demands of good, and there we can afford to let any question rest. It makes no difference how much is at stake or what is involved, if we succeed in getting ourselves out of the way, we can then be satisfied with the words of the prophet, "The battle is not yours, but God's ... set your- selves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord." We cannot hope to work out of this human sense of existence without making mistakes. We may make many, but will profit by them all. We are at liberty to change our belief of things as often as we get new light. We should not let our vanity compel us to ad- here to a proposition simply because we have taken a stand thereon. We should be willing to relinquish our former views and change our thought on any sub- ject as often as wisdom furnishes us enlightenment. 30 LAW AND WORK Christian Scientists are sometimes accused of being changeable. What if they are, if it is always God that changes them? Is a Christian Scientist any less a Scientist because he changes his mind? Is a general less fit to lead his army because in the heat of battle he changes his tactics under the guidance of wisdom? A too determined sense of carrying out a preconceived plan is more likely to be the enthrone- ment of erring human will. Christian Scientists are minutemen, armed and equipped to respond to any call of wisdom, always ready and willing to abandon personal views or opin- ions, and to allow that Mind to be in them "which was also in Christ Jesus." Adam H. Dickey. AUTHORITY AMONG the many incidental services which Chris- tian Science is bestowing on humanity, is this, that it is steadily raising up a great race of exact thinkers. One of the first discoveries made by the student of Christian metaphysics is the scientific exactness of Mrs. Eddy's use of words. At first he is inclined to think that each word he analyzes is the most misused in the human vocabulary. Gradually as there dawns upon him something of what the unity of good actually signifies, he begins to under- stand why any text does to preach a sermon on, and why one word is not more abused than another by the average maker of dictionaries. When Dr. Johnson indulged in his extraordinary definitions of "excise" and "pension," the world smiled, shrugged its shoulders, or used strong lan- guage, according to its individual temperament. Yet those definitions were not more arbitrary or out- rageous than others commonly and cheerfully ac- cepted by generations of lexicographers in great and small ways. The word "authority," for instance, has probably never meant much more to the crowd than the mere material power usurped by a Caesar or delegated to a Pilate. That was how the procurator of Judaea regarded it, and that was how he defined 31 32 LAW AND WORK it, with all the arrogance of one of Rome's pro- consuls, in the Praetorium at Jerusalem. In Christian Science, however, there is no room for such a phrase as "near enough." No human being can be too near to God; and consequently no human being can ever reason too exactly, too closely to Truth. Speaking one day to the Jews, in the court of the women in the Temple, Jesus said, referring to those "which believed on him," "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Readers familiar with the text of the Fourth Gospel are aware that the writer, with that precision of phrase which is so characteristic of his work, separates the abso- lute from the relative by the use of the definite article, a distinction which is unfortunately lost in the trans- lation. "The freedom of the individual," wrote one of the most brilliant of English commentators, with that deep insight for which he was justly famous, "is perfect conformity to the absolute — to that which is. Intellectually this conformity is knowledge of the Truth: morally, obedience to the divine law." It was precisely because Jesus had this knowledge of Truth, because in thought and deed he lived in absolute conformity to the absolute, that the synop- tists say of him that "he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." The word here translated authority is exousia, and it is noticeable that it is almost indifferently translated authority or power. This is remarkable, for the king de facto and the king dejure are by no means necessarily AUTHORITY 33 identical, and it proves that, in the mind of the writer, knowledge of the absolute, expressed intellectually in conformity to Truth and morally in obedience to divine law, constituted at once authority and power. ^'Honesty," writes Mrs. Eddy on page 453 of Science and Health, "is spiritual power." Exactly what this means is brought out in the most striking way in the Fourth Gospel. After one of the many occasions on which Pilate, issuing from the Praetorium, had faced the populace outside, he re- turned into the judgment hall, and with the cry "He made himself the Son of God" ringing in his ears, in- quired of Jesus, "Whence art thou?" It was then, astonished by the silence with which his question was received, he demanded: "Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" The claim of Pilate, made with all the brutal frankness of the Roman sol- dier, to dispose as he chose of the life of the prisoner before him, Jesus brushed aside in a single sentence which set authority in its true light: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above." The man who had avoided the manifold pitfalls set for him by the scribes and Phari- sees, could have escaped now the craftiness, of the high priests and the blundering Roman governor. If he seemed caught within their toils, it was only be- cause his clear perception of the working of divine law seemed to show him that the moment had come when he could prove to humanity that life is indes- 34 LAW AND WORK tructible, and Spirit not to be held within the grasp of matter. To Pilate authority was the right to do as he chose. It stood for power shorn of responsibility. He had the same patrician contempt for the Jews in Jeru- salem that his countryman Gallio had for those in Corinth : a contempt which Monsieur Anatole France has pictured, in the greatest of his short stories, when he describes the procurator chafing, years later, on a Roman hillside, over the turbulence of the Jews and the ingratitude of the Emperor, while utterly obliv- ious of that fateful Easter drama in the Praetorium at Jerusalem. If Pilate had dared to treat the Jews, screaming for the release of Barabbas, as Gallio had treated Sosthenes and his friends, nothing would have given him greater pleasure. He was to learn, how- ever, the limits of his authority from the fanatical mob he alternately browbeat and cringed to. The Jews had dragged Jesus before Pilate, accusing him of claiming to be their King. The plot was worthy of the high priests. They knew that the very thing Pilate dared not face at Rome was the accusa- tion of permitting a usurper to cause trouble in the province. It is true that they knew equally well that there was no claim on Jesus' part to the old idea of the Messiah as a conquering military leader. They knew, however, that no distinction would be drawn in Rome between the spiritual claim of Jesus and the traditional claim of some Judas Maccabeus. The Jews also knew this, and they knew that Pilate knew AUTHORITY 35 it. As a consequence the man who a moment before had boasted to Jesus that he had authority to punish him or let him go, blenched when he heard the shout upon the pavement, "We have no king but Caesar." He knew what Caesar in Rome would say if the report came that the procurator of Judaea was parleying with treason, and the Jews knew that he knew it. The struggle of the Roman to have his own way and let go the man his common sense told him was inno- cent, was pitiable in its weakness in the face of the merciless malice of the high priests, echoed in the scream of the mob, "We have no king but Caesar." The man's empty boast of his power to do as he liked shriveled before his realization of the ability of an- other man, more powerful still, to do as he liked. So he delivered Jesus unto them to be crucified. That was Pilate's dream of authority, — the relative, human sense of authority collapsing in a moment at the touch of a stronger hand. It happens, however, that we have Jesus' own idea of authority, and it is to a Roman soldier that we owe the explanation of it. It was on the day when he came down from delivering the Sermon on the Mount that, as he entered into Capernaum, he met the centurion. And there, in the narrow street of the Galilean town, amid the press of the passers-by in their many-colored gabardines, the Roman soldier, in his scarlet toga and gleaming helmet, stood and talked with the great Teacher until the latter marveled. Twice only, in the whole story of his ministry, is it 36 LAW AND WORK recorded that Jesus marveled. The first time was at the lack of belief amidst the people of his native Nazareth; the second, at the understanding of the centurion. It could not have been the mere act of belief in the centurion at which Jesus marveled, be- cause he did find equal faith without expressing such astonishment. The reason must be sought elsewhere, and will be found in the spiritual insight of the Roman expressed in his understanding of authority. It must be admitted that the translators of the author- ized version by dropping the word "also" from the Greek text of Matthew, did their utmost to darken counsel by words without knowledge. The revisers, wiser in their generation, restored the word, and with it the key to the saying : "For I also am a man set under authority." The Roman had caught a glimpse of something which had been hidden, it is to be sus- pected, from all the multitudes to whom Jesus had preached, and for whose benefit he had performed miracles. No wonder the Master marveled. To Pilate authority was the power to do as he liked. In all Judaea there was no one to dispute his power. To Tiberius authority was the power to do as he liked. Within the confines of the empire there was no one to dispute his word. The centurion saw something beyond this. A suspicion of disloyalty breathed to Caesar, and where would Pilate be?- A dagger's point in the capitol, and where would Caesar be? To him authority meant the might and dominion of Rome, which would continue after Tiberius and Pilate, per- AUTHORITY 37 haps in spite of them. He was a man truly under authority, the authority of the Roman eagles and the Pax Romana, He was the servant of the Roman law. If he, backed by this mere temporal power, could say to this man, "Go, and he goeth; and to an- other, Come, and he cometh," what might not be possible to this servant of Jehovah, understanding and applying the divine law? The cohorts of fear, the legions of disease, the armies of death would vanish at his word : ''Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Millions of men viewing the figure of Jesus, in the perspective of the centuries, have invested him with all sorts of miraculous powers which they have denied to the dwellers in Christendom. But here was a Gen- tile soldier who met the Hebrew teacher, a despised Jew, in the streets of the little Galilean town, and realized his power because he understood something of what authority meant. How many of those who bow themselves today before the ''man of sorrows,'' are willing to recognize that his true followers, among those whom they meet today in the press of the streets, are those who are striving to put into practice the command to preach the gospel and to heal the sick? In the Messianic prophecies, in the book of Isaiah, the "man of sorrows'* is spoken of as the servant of Jhvh, a word from which, by the process of mingling its consonants with the vowels of Adonai has been produced the term Jehovah. The writer of those 38 LAW AND WORK prophecies understood full well what would be the reception by the world of the man who should mani- fest such * 'perfect conformity to the absolute" as to become entitled to the Messiahship: ''He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief : and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." The Roman centurion met Jesus in the streets of Caper- naum, and recognized the Christ, and Jesus marveled. Authority, then, as explained in the New Testa- ment, is the corollary of spiritual understanding, of conformity to the absolute. This being so it must necessarily be a demonstrable quality; and so, all through the Gospels the word is found used almost inseparably from healing. The word healing is, of course, used in Christian Science in a far broader sense than the mere overcoming of physical disease. It is used, as it is used in the Bible, to express the destruction of anything that is unlike God. Jesus spoke with the same authority to the tempest as to disease, and to death as to the tempest. "Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal," Mrs. Eddy writes on page 76 of Science and Health. "When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by divine authority." Anybody who has been the instrument of healing, in this way, the apparently most insignificant case of disease, knows, beyond argument, how divine is the authority which said to the tempest, "Peace, be still," AUTHORITY 39 and cried at the mouth of the tomb, "Lazarus, come forth." It is something quite devoid of will-power, of suggestion, or any of those frail material means through which the human mind works. It is the re- sult of a knowledge of the absolute, acquired by the patient effort to live in conformity to the absolute, to realize, in short, and put into practice the command of Jesus, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Such a man lives under divine authority. Frederick Dixon.