SAFETY
From the time of Moses until now, humanity has ever been seeking to avoid the evil consequences of sin and to escape calamity. The book of Leviticus is full of minute details concerning the precautions necessary to prevent disease by the cleansing and purification of both person and dwelling whenever contagious maladies overtook the people. Jesus so far recognized this order of things as to command the ten lepers whom he healed to show themselves to the priests, in compliance with the law of Moses; yet it is significant that to the one who returned to give thanks, a Samaritan, he said, "Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole." It may have seemed to the Jews that Jesus sometimes disregarded the Levitical law, but there is no evidence that he was ever careless or indifferent concerning the welfare of those about him. His obedience to law and his observation of certain ceremonies were marked. His mission was to offer to all the surest way to escape from harm, namely, by putting entire dependence upon God.
Despite the many adherents of Christian Science, most of whom testify to having been healed through divine help from some kind of disease, and often after all medical help had failed, honest doubt concerning the advisability of placing their entire dependence upon spiritual healing keeps many others from accepting its teachings. This makes it apparent that the one prevailing thought today is the avoidance of danger. Consciously or unconsciously a large proportion of our time is spent in the endeavor to prevent calamities, and it is of course entirely right to protect ourselves from unnecessary hazard. Carelessness and neglect are never warrantable, and Christian Science teaches this most emphatically, but the great question at issue is, What constitutes true safety, the highest good?
The ascetic who perched himself upon a column and remained there many years, in order to insure purity and abstinence from temptation, may have accomplished his object, but he failed to benefit mankind. Christ Jesus pursued no such selfish course, but rather one that to human sense was fraught with danger. He fearlessly faced the mobs, the persecution and ridicule of his enemies, that he might insure the safety of his brother men.
Let us consider some of the teachings of Christian Science which will certainly conduce to our real safety. First, we may mention its inculcation that we earnestly study the Scriptures and endeavor to understand more fully their application to our own lives, that the truths of the Bible are as potent today as in the past. Further, to accept the postulate of Christian Science that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, one to whose keeping we have a perfect right to trust our welfare, can but contribute to our present and future safety. Religious history is full of proofs that God is all powerful and an ever-ready help in time of trouble. "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me," says the psalmist, who believed that God was within reach of his cry. Christ Jesus' demonstrations over the elements, over sickness, hunger, and "the last enemy," were in evidence of his awakening to a spiritual consciousness of the divine Life. We cannot fully apprehend that God is indeed "our Father" without being impelled to depend upon Him for safety in every emergency. In our exalted moments of spiritual sense we all feel sure that we can safely trust our lives to the divine keeping, but to reach this plane requires much spiritual thought and purity of action on our part.
Yet again, we can safely follow the teaching of Christian Science in maintaining an attitude of thought which will exclude the anticipation of ills and all that tends to hinder spiritual growth; in thinking only good thoughts for those about us; in manifesting cheerfulness and in turning away from all hatred, envy, and passion. If we accept the teachings of the Master in his divinely helpful Sermon on the Mount, we have a right to claim for ourselves the rewards there offered to those who are faithful and true though "persecuted for righteousness' sake." It requires the self-poise that comes as a result of fellowship with Christ to maintain under all circumstances the standard of love therein set forth. To love our enemies; to pray for our persecutors and those who say all manner of evil against us falsely, is to acquire the understanding that hate, envy, and malice can be destroyed by Love, and as time after time the practice of our Lord's teachings results in greater spiritual power and victory over sin and sickness, we learn that Love is the only source of true healing and protection, whether physical or mental.
Moral healing is sure to be followed by physical benefits. Not only in nervous diseases, but in the so-called organic troubles there is need to rely upon spiritual means for safety. Christian Science demonstrations of healing cover every form of known disease, and a careful investigation of these demonstrations will satisfy the most incredulous that divine Mind is able to save unto the uttermost. In view of the unnumbered cures effected in Christian Science, why may not all safely place their physical well-being in the hands of omnipotent Love? No one is called on thus to commit himself to the divine keeping until he has made a thorough and careful investigation for himself and been convinced that divine Science is adequate to his needs. This inquiry, however, should be made without prejudice, if truth is to be discerned.
That general best protects his forces who most carefully reconnoiters and ascertains where he can proceed against the enemy with greatest safety. To close one's eyes to danger would be folly of the grossest sort, and to declare that we are safe without reaching for the outstretched hand of the Saviour, would be equally foolish. By the discernment of error and the knowledge of Truth's power to destroy it, we can realize our greatest safety from sin and sickness. Christian Science holds aloft a banner which leads the way to safety. To the storm-tossed it offers a haven of refuge; to the weary and heavy laden, the yoke that is easy and the burden that is light; to the sick and suffering, healing and comfort, and to those lost in sin a way of escape and eternal salvation.
