The Wilderness of Belief

HARRIET L. SLINEY.

One of the story books of my childhood contained an allegory which was very interesting to me. It ran follows:—

Bordering one side of a prosperous village was a dense wood which the village people for generations had been taught to fear and shun.

No one who entered this wood was ever seen or heard from again, and companies who sought to follow lost companions and solve its mystery never penetrated more than a short distance. They always came back affrighted, and gave up the search.

Thus it came about that a rich forest of trees, and access to beautiful adjacent country was shut off for years from the surrounding inhabitants.

In course of time, a young farmer took up his residence on the farther side of this wood, and in order to reach the village, he must needs pass through it. At first the prospect did not alarm him; but as the time approached when he must take his products to the village, the stories that he had heard about this place began to throng his memory and he shrank from the journey. However, there was no alternative, and summoning all his courage, early one morning he started. He arrived at the village safely, and having made the trip once, he made it again and again.

When the villagers became aware that he had passed through the wood unharmed, they were amazed, and began to inquire into the secret of his escape.

He told them that shortly after he entered the wood he was terrified by dreadful scenes and sounds, but not daring to look to right or left, he kept his gaze straight ahead, and began to repeat passages of Scripture. By unwaveringly holding to this course he reached the village in safety.

When reading this story, I used to wonder how it was that such a simple thing as repeating verses of Scripture could preserve a man's life, but in later years it has become clear to me as I have come to understand God,—good,—to be real, positive, ever-present, all-power; and evil,—devil,—to be unreal, negative, nowhere, nothing; and this demonstrable truth is illustrated in the above story.

"Thoughts are things," and contradictory thoughts cannot occupy the same consciousness at the same time. The spiritual is always dominant over the material; the positive over the negative. Our beloved Leader teaches us that, "good thoughts are an impervious armor" (Christian Science Sentinel, February 8, 1899), and the understanding of this, enables one to banish from the body the disease that would consume it, since every thought has a corresponding manifestation and disease is but "an image of thought externalized" (Science and Health, p. 411). Having the God-given power to control our thought, we may thereby control our bodies harmoniously. Thoughts of health and thoughts of sickness do not dwell together. When one appears the other disappears: and if we experience disease it is evident that we have not yet succeeded in holding our thought firmly and constantly to good. "Seeking is not sufficient. It is striving which enables us to enter" (Science and Health, p. 10). Paul said, "Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

We should still be struggling hopelessly against pain, disease and other mortal limitations, knowing next to nothing of the spiriutal universe lying all about us and within our reach, all its limitless possibilities spreading fair before our gaze, were it not for the laborious search and unselfish toil of the God-inspired woman who gave us the "Key" which unlocks the Scriptures and thus makes plain and safe the path which leads to man's rich heritage, his dominion over all the earth.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Our Reasonable Service

March 26, 1904

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit