Article April 19, 1913 Issue

A SECRET OF VICTORY

GEORGE H. MOORE.

A famous military genius has said that the "secret of all great victories is in rapidity of movement." Such analysis has interest for us as Christian Scientists, because the task which we have set ourselves is essentially one of war,—and war to be successful must be waged not blindly, but with method and foresight and according to laws tested and proved valid. Hence the advantage of knowing the rules of spiritual combat and fighting according to the rules. Our Leader says: "Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their course" (Science and Health, p. 29).

Our battle is mental; our enemies are mental; our equipment and armament are mental and entirely adequate to our need. Our field of battle is human consciousness, whence appears the relentless nature of our conflict,—for this is civil war, the most relentless of all strife, waged with an enemy accountered in a uniform so like our own, and so long falsely identified with our home garrison, that it is not easy at times to tell friend from foe.

Right living has always been accounted warfare. The records of the Israelitish wars, preserved in the Old Testament as allegories of the issue between good and evil fought out in human thought, are of value to us only as interpreted in terms of consciousness. It is significant that the titles given by our Leader to so many of the current publications of Christian Science are associated by origin and fundamental meaning with war. A herald is defined as "an officer [invested with sacred and inviolate character] whose business was to proclaim war or peace, to bear messages to or from rulers or commanders." A sentinel is "a soldier set to guard an army, camp, or the like, from surprise." A monitor is "one who warns of faults, informs of duty, or gives advice and instruction."

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