Editorial June 6, 1908 Issue

FAITH OVERCOMING FEAR

Annie M. Knott

Quite recently the newspapers have given many detailed accounts of the tragic experience of a gentleman in New York city, whose death was said to be due to hydrophobia. Some of the papers stated, however, that "enough of a drug to destroy consciousness had been given the patient until he died." This case has been widely commented upon, and the opinion freely expressed that the tragedy might have been averted had not fear been fastened upon the patient by those to whom he went for aid. The writer was at one time intimately acquainted with a very intelligent man who kept a number of highly bred dogs, and he did not hesitate to say that rabies was not communicable to human beings except through their fear, and that he had even known of the cure of animals seemingly affected by it. He said he had been bitten by a dog in this condition, but that no bad results had followed, as he did not fear the disease at all. He had never heard of Christian Science, and was not free from fear where other diseases were concerned.

This sad occurrence in New York leads one to recall the story of Paul's shipwreck, as related in the 28th chapter of Acts. We read that after he reached the shore a venomous serpent "fastened on his hand," and that those who witnessed the occurrence predicted his death in consequence of the viper's bite, but that he shook it off "and felt no harm." We are also told that after this experience Paul proved the power of the divine Principle which had saved him from the effects that often follow the fear of poison, by healing many sufferers on the island where he was cast.

Some years ago, a man residing in the middle West was bitten by a dog which was believed to be affected by rabies. In a short time he manifested alarming symptoms and was taken to a hospital. He was constantly guarded, but no hope of his recovery was held out by the medical attendants. After a time his devoted wife, with the love that is stronger than death, obtained permission to have him brought to their home, though much of the time he knew no one. This was the condition which a Christian Science practitioner found when she went to that home, but within an hour the man had responded to the declaration of God's law, as made known to this age in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and he recognized and talked with his wife and children, free from his awful sense of suffering and fear. Within a very short time he was able to go out alone, and as soon as the authorities permitted it, he was back at his work among the kind comrades who had helped to care for him, but not one of whom had ever expected him to recover.

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