this web site, which offers
citations and commentary on the meaning behind this useful
Commandment.
Christian Science teaches a deeply spiritual point-of-view toward
the
Second Commandment, which needs to be understood, as well as demonstrated
in our
lives.
From what we learned from "The Second Commandment" pages,
there are two points
to focus upon in our obedience to this Commandment:
The first one is that we are not to turn material things, concepts,
or activities into
"graven images," and then worship them as "other
gods."
The second point is that we are not to create material things,
concepts, or activities to
be used for the purpose of worshipping
our one true Supreme Being, who is infinite
Spirit in nature and expression,
to the extent that God is left out of our worship!
Let's delve into
the first area:
Think about some things in your life that you may
have placed more importance on for
your happiness than your relationship
with God. Are you a slave to tobacco, drugs,
alcohol, caffeine, sex,
or other stimulants? Are you suffering from the belief that these
things bring you true pleasure? Are you a workaholic, finding satisfaction
only in your
job, or prestige of position? Then, you are disobeying
the Second Commandment.
Spirit, God, should be the only true source
of attraction and happiness and satisfaction.
Have you watched certain
commercials on television so often that they become
"graven images"
in your mind, and you find yourself "needing" what they sell? How
often do we find ourselves coming down with the very illness that
certain medicine
commercials pound into our thoughts? If you are not
on guard to erase these "graven
images" from your mind, by denying
the power of drugs to heal, or disease to harm
God's children, then
the "graven images" become like "other gods" to you, as they
force
you to fear, obey, and worship them at the cost of your personal and
spiritual
health.
Do the sensational images on television, movies,
newspapers, and magazines
arouse you in negative ways? Do they pull
your thoughts away from the beauty and
goodness that God ordains for
man? Then watch that these powerful images do not
become idols for
you. God is the only true power. To obey the Second Command-
ment,
you must oust any false sense of a power apart from God, any event
that is not
the will of an all-loving Father-Mother, any claim that
man is an animal with animal
instincts, and not the pure image and
likeness of Spirit.
Has the "love of money" taken over your thoughts?
Do you worship the idea of
having tons of money without taking account
of your usefulness to God in the service
of mankind? Worshipping money
instead of God, who is the source of all true supply,
and who fills
all of our needs in the best way possible, is breaking the Second
Com-
mandment. We must humble ourselves before God, and ask Him for
our "daily bread."
Do we always turn to doctors and medicine, or the
so-called healing benefit of "time,"
to cope with illness or accidents?
Jesus showed us that there is a healing Principle:
God. Jesus did
not use drugs. He taught us to grow in spirituality and unselfish
love.
These qualities will help us trust in God in times of physical
need, just as Jesus did.
Sometimes, though, God will guide us to the
right use of "temporary" means, if we
do need the help of doctors
in situations that are beyond our current spiritual under-
standing
to heal with Christian Science. The point is that our primary trust
should be
in God -- not in the so-called power of drugs, the use of
which can be a form of
idolatry, according to our teachings. Having
faith first in God always, will prevent
us from being disobedient
to the Second Commandment.
Those are just a few of the ideas of how
we might make "graven images" of a variety
of things in our lives.
We must be alert to this process, and pray daily to be delivered
from
evil.
Now, let's consider ways in which we might try to materialize
our worship of God,
making "graven images" to worship, adore, or serve
Him, rather than keeping our
worship on a more spiritual basis.
An
expression I have heard before in Christian Science, is that "We do
not go to
church to worship God, we go to express Him!"
That pretty
much sums up what must be our attitude regarding attendance at church,
and our activities to support the services. If we become self-satisfied
with our
"perfect attendance," assuming that merely showing up at
church, week after week,
is sufficient to worship God, then we may
need to search our hearts to see how much
there is of spiritual growth.
Are we using our time there wisely, in expressing God's
spiritual
qualities? Or, do we find our thoughts drifting to other matters,
perhaps
what we will have for lunch, or casting a critical eye toward
some other member?
Do you consider yourself a good Christian Scientist,
because you read the Bible
Lesson daily? Are you merely reading, or
do you come away each day with some
new and exciting spiritual discovery
that you can put into practice right away? Are
you using the spiritual
qualities of the divine Mind as you read and study, or are you
just
rushing through the citations in order to "do your duty"? The Second
Command-
ment would urge us not to use the act of merely perusing
the Bible and Science and
Health as a replacement for true adoration
and worship and expression of God in our
thinking.
I have heard people
say, when wondering what went wrong in their lives, or in the
lives
of relatives, why some healing hasn't occurred. After all, they had
been model
Christian Scientists: always reading the Lesson, attending
all the church services,
giving financial support, etc. They don't
understand why that doesn't merit them a
successful demonstration
of health and harmony in their lives. In some cases, a tragic
death
under Christian Science care has prompted this kind of soul-searching.
The
truth cannot always really be known by us in any individual case.
But, to prevent this
kind of misunderstanding in the future, it must
be thoroughly realized that the "rituals"
of Christian Science, or
any religion for that matter, are not, in and of themselves,
protection
from harm. Only a life spiritualized through the active purification
of sin
in our consciousness, and the active outpouring of unselfed
love towards God and
man, will be prepared to handle the demands of
consistently successful spiritual
healing. Just "showing up" at church,
handing out money, and dutifully reading the
Bible with no more than
superficial interest, will not reach the divine heights of
obedience
to the Second Commandment.
For those readers of other religions, I
leave it to you to give consideration to what,
in the practice of
your denomination, might be mere ritual, and not true spiritual
worship.
Think about those activities or messages that may have become habit
to you,
rather than a source of spiritual uplift. Is there someway
you can find new inspiration
in them? Love is usually the answer.
If love will not bring a sense of renewal to your
common practices
of worship, perhaps you then need to turn to God in prayer, and
start
a new dialogue with Him. Just how might He wish You, you in particular,
to
serve Him and your brother man? What steps can you take to spiritualize
your
thinking and your motives and your actions in daily life, not
just on Sundays or other
days or worship?
Our divine service to God,
the way in which we worship and adore Him, must be
acceptable to God,
not to other humans who may have a very limited concept of our
spiritual
growth. The opinions of others, and what they think will do us the
most good,
may not be what God has in Mind for us. As Mary Baker Eddy,
the Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, tells her followers:
"Follow your Leader only so far as
she follows Christ!"
So, don't
take on the "graven images" that others may have formulated in their
thinking
-- you have enough of your own to deal with!
Our goal of
obedience to the Second Commandment is to flee from any kind of
material
idolatry. Our desire to be obedient is a great start. Our daily prayer
to
"lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," will also
be the method of
purifying our thinking, so that we can also pray
with the utmost of spiritual sincerity:
"Hallowed be thy name.
Adorable
One."
With the fullness of the Christ, Truth, in our consciousness,
we will be utterly unable
to make "any graven image." The understanding
that we are, in reality, the spiritual
"image and likeness" of God,
will prevent any false images or concepts from taking
root in our
thoughts. There will simply be no room or place for evil or erroneous
material thinking to be engraved, in a consciousness filled with the
idea of God.
O, he whom Jesus loved has truly spoken,
That holier
worship, which God deigns to bless,
Restores the lost, and heals the
spirit broken,
And feeds the widow and the fatherless.
Then, brother
man, fold to thy heart thy brother,
For where love dwells, the peace
of God is there:
To worship rightly is to love each other;
Each smile
a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.
Follow with reverent steps the
great example
Of him whose holy work was doing good;
So shall the
wide earth seem our Father's temple,
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude.
(Hymn 217 John Greenleaf Whittier
SECCOMB Charles H. Morse
The Christian
Science Hymnal)
The Second Commandment
The Second Commandment for
Children
The Ten Commandments
