Article August 31, 1899 Issue

When Weary of Marching

When the children of Israel first heard the good news that God had promised Moses to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, they bowed their heads and worshiped, for the Promised Land, ideally beautiful, spread itself out before their mental vision, and they could picture themselves already in possession of it. Afterwards Moses made his demand on Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites and was rebuffed. Then when their taskmasters retaliated by making their burdens heavier, the children of Israel doubted Moses and his God, and complained that they had interfered in their affairs.

When Christian Science first appears to us in what seems to be our darkest hour, when we are utterly weary of the fruitless struggle against the bonds of sickness, poverty, or sin, we hear the message of liberty it brings, with thankfulness and joy, and bow our heads in worship, because we take it for granted that we can enter into this new estate where disease and discord are unknown without any protest from our lifelong masters. When we essay to test the promise of freedom and find that error tightens its grip, we feel like complaining.

The children of Israel persistently argued on the side of their masters; they could not understand how God could be more powerful than Pharaoh, and had to have proof after proof of the powerlessness of the Egyptians to stand against God, before they could get up courage to depart. Even after they had again and again seen the hand of God smite their oppressors, they were so weak in faith that God led them by a way that was free from serious obstacles because they would turn back at the least provocation. The record says: "When Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt" (Exodus. 13: 17)

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What Fear Does
August 31, 1899
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