The Call of Duty

The Bible says, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion, … shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

In our text-book the same rousing thought is given: “Sleep is darkness; but God’s creative mandate was, ‘Let there be light.’ In sleep, cause and effect are mere illusions. They seem to be, but are not…. Even so goes on the Adam-belief, of which mortal and material life is the dream” (Science and Health, p. 556).

When Christian Science first dawns upon our thought, we are like people awakened from a long sleep. Life suddenly takes on a new phase. We are made aware that the Biblical promises of salvation, healing, and peace are not the voicing of mere emotional ecstasy, but they are an earnest of results which ever attend the discernment of and obedience to, a true conception of God. Great thinkers, from Moses to Paul, realized, in greater and lesser degrees the spiritual law and its practical application to the needs of mortals.

We are also impressed with the conviction that God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; that what was true to Jesus, is true to us; and life and its opportunities appear to us in a new and radiant conception of good.

This discernment of the available truths of the Bible is a universal experience to Christian Scientists, but because our awakening is not yet complete, apathy sometimes steals upon us, and before long we may grow accustomed to this changed attitude towards life. Our work, which we formerly undertook with so much zeal, grows arduous, and we begin to wonder why our labor does not come to its fruition, and why there is so much of it to do.

But instead of yielding to such thoughts of “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,” we should see that this is the time for Christian Scientists to be awake to their opportunities. Solomon said, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”

However small our understanding seems to be, we have enough with which to begin our work, and if effort be faithfully made, knowledge will unfold itself to us, and with it, the necessary results of knowledge, power, and demonstration.

And of what is our labor to consist? First, daily, prayerful, intelligent study of the Bible with Science and Health. Second, prompt and efficient fulfilment of the duties that come to us as Christian Scientists.

Even when there is no definite, specific object in view we should not allow our work to grow slack. Indeed, such a time should be the very one for greater, more conscientious effort. “Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We know that in military campaigns the most important work is the persistent drill in which soldiers learn the methods of warfare and obedience to those in command. History has often recorded the victory of a few well-disciplined soldiers over a large body of raw recruits.

As working Christian Scientists, we should not be found sleeping at the post of duty, but awake and doing, and as soldiers in a common cause we should be loyal and obedient to our Leader. We should never allow ourselves to fall into a state of apathy, indifference, or discouragement; since each of us has work to do that no other can do for us. We need to heed well the text on our Sentinel as it comes to us every week, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.”