Article March 14, 1908 Issue

MANNA

VIOLET KER SEYMER.

In the light of Christian Science it grows more and more apparent that what we term knowledge of evil is in reality engendered solely by ignorance of good or God. The only seeming substance of evil, if such a contradictory term may be used, is the false belief that ignorance is substance. Is it not evident that some powerful antidote is required for all separate the tares from the wheat in human belief? Although Truth has always been close at hand and within reach of all, mortals have been too prone to take everything good for granted, and to attribute the evil to some unknown deific purpose. Moses reminded the Israelites that "he [God] ... fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not." Spiritual harmony is that manna which has been waiting to minister to human needs throughout all ages, but fear, which is belief in evil, is constantly overlooking the divine blessing, and pride and prejudice trample it under foot. In Revelation we read, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna." What is causing the truth of being to seem hidden? Nothing but the universal belief in the reality of evil. This false belief, belief, be it remembered, is the only evil, and nothing but Truth can eradicate both the belief and its widespread consequences.

The Christian Science text-book, which makes clear to every receptive reader the spiritual meaning of the Bible, is the "manna" falling in this age, and like the children of Israel, who gathered daily enough to meet each day's requirements, students of Christian Science must study their literature daily, and watch that no form of evil keep its meaning "hidden" in daily demonstration. Discouragement, fear, rivalry, ingratitude, laziness, sometimes result in the manna remaining unheeded and ungarnered. Others again, while accepting the teachings of Christian Science, find themselves looking back at the flesh-pots of Egypt, sighing for the playthings of the past, and saying, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely;... but now ... there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." Are we not safe in confiding our happiness to God, since, as Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 57), "happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love"? Evil is always trying to bring about apathy and stagnation, if not retrogression, in the one who has put his hand to the plough.

From the divine Mind comes an abundance of true thoughts with which to keep at bay all would-be robbers of peace and progress, but we do not avail ourselves of them until we attune our ears to them. The Christ says, "I stand at the door and knock;" but the so-called mortal mind also seeks admittance, and in order to withstand its temptations the beginner, especially, must remember to lay in his store of manna, and find strength, courage, conviction, and consecration through daily study of the Bible and his text-book, otherwise his thoughts will cease to advance beyond the old standpoint of materiality. Doubts may present themselves with the tempter, fears and even defeats at times, through lack of vigilance, but there is always truth enough to meet the need of each moment and to frustrate each attempt of error, if indeed such attempts have not been largely prevented by the steadfast recognition of the harmonious reality of being. That there are many temptations to wrong thinking is evident, for false belief is prolific in false suggestion; but the more discordant the lie, the further removed is it from Truth, and the more inherently powerless.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

CONTENTMENT AND SATISFACTION