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F. EDITH HILL Too often it is thought by the sufferer that the will of God means that he must patiently go on suffering because for some mysterious reason it is not God's will for him to have the health which others enjoy. Similarly, the mourner may feel that it means his being resigned to a sense of having lost much that would make life worth living. And to youth it often appears to mean the giving up of pleasure. In each case it is thought to indicate the loss of something worth having. No wonder that with such belief men have come to fear God's will rather than to love and desire it! Though this prayer is repeated as a duty by many people, can it be said that they honestly look forward to having what they conceive to be God's will done, since it claims to bring disaster into their lives? In the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Player which is to be found in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 16, 17) Mrs. Eddy has given the meaning of the words, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" as: "Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme." And yet, even when we remember that God is omnipotent, is there not still sometimes a tendency to fear that His will is going to be done in spite of our efforts to thwart it? Recently, after a church service an earnest Christian remarked to the writer, "Do you know when I came to 'Thy will be done' in the Lord's Prayer I nearly stopped?" And many have stopped, though reproaching themselves for their rebellious thoughts, while others have gone through with it, but with heaviness of heart. How one longs to help these dear ones, especially when one has been through this very experience, and has emerged to find how needless were the fears! If we consider just what God's will is, we shall inevitably lose all fear of it; but in order to do this, it is necessary to know something of the nature of God. Most of those who believe in God at all will agree that He is good; and the Scriptures declare that "God is love." Because God is good and perfect, His will must be like Himself, good and perfect; and because God is Love, His will must be altogether acceptable. The Apostle Paul tells us that we may "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" and that the way to do so is to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." The only reason for fearing God's will would be that one did not sufficiently realize what is meant by the three words, "God is love." A realization of the perfect Love which is God would cast out all fear. Throughout her writings Mrs. Eddy constantly refers to God as Mother as well as Father; and in giving what she understood to be the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer, she commences with the words, "Our Father-Mother God." Now the will of infinite Love cannot mean less than perfect happiness for all of God's children. The infinitely loving Mother — perfect Love itself — could not desire anything unloving or unhappy for anyone. Sin, sickness, disaster, death, are neither good nor acceptable; therefore, it is unthinkable that they can be part of that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God to which the Scriptures refer. Indeed, the process of being "transformed by the renewing of your mind," destroys these errors in one's consciousness, and thus removes them from one's experiences. Who would think of fearing that which he knew could bring him only perfect happiness? Yet perfect happiness is what our Father-Mother, Love, has in store for each one of us. It is our opposition to His perfect will that makes us unhappy; whereas, realizing that God's will can bring us only joy, and that joy far beyond the petty pleasures mortals believe they get from having their own way, we shall not only be willing that God's will shall be done, but shall desire it above all else, and be willing to sacrifice anything that would hinder it. Nor need we rest there; for although to desire that God's will be done is an excellent thing, it does not go far enough. We can, however, know of a certainty not only that God's will some day will be done, but that now it actually is being done! One translation of the sentence under consideration is, "Your will must be being done both in Heaven and upon the Earth;" and the translator states as a footnote "The above is the literal translation from the original Greek retaining the Greek moods and tenses by the clearest English I could." The passage just quoted came to the writer's thought with great illumination one night while she was trying to see the truth which should destroy the lie that was claiming that a little child was suffering great pain. She had been struggling for about five minutes against the tendency to believe this error, and had not been helped in her efforts by the noise of the crying, which seemed to increase. Then came the words to lighten the gloom, "Your will must be being done," — being done absolutely and continuously. That made it as clear as daylight! It was not God's will for His children to suffer; and God, Love, being omnipotent, only the omnipotent will could be being done. With the light this message brought came also joy and gratitude that it was so; the crying ceased; and in less than five minutes the little one was peacefully asleep. Thus was the experience of the child transformed by the renewing of the mind, and the "good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" proved once again. What a comfort it is to know that if we honestly desire God's will to be done, — and how can we help desiring it when we know it is the only happy, good way? — we shall not be allowed to stray far from the right road even in ignorance, but shall be gently compelled to come into line with the perfect will which means joy for us. Mrs. Eddy says on page 266 of Science and Health, "Even if you cling to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth." And we need to realize that there is no cause here for fear, but rather for rejoicing, because it is this growth which is so necessary to our happiness; and the clinging to a sense of personal joys can bring us only disappointment and grief. Divine Love never asks us to give up anything that is good or that will really contribute to our happiness. Realizing this, and trusting to divine wisdom to know what will really bring us joy, we can go forward confidently, with the prayer, "Thy will be done," ringing joyfully and triumphantly in our hearts, and agreeing with the words of the hymn: — "I worship Thee, sweet Will of God,
Christian Science Sentinel, April 18, 1925 |
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