Editorial August 30, 1913 Issue

"MY STRENGTH."

John B. Willis

The dominant sense of mortal experience is that of inadequacy, weakness. The ever-echoing world-cry is a call for help. Over against this there is set forth in all the Scriptures the infinity of spiritual strength, and Christian Science may be defined as the statement and practical proof of the present availability of this strength. "Obedience to Truth," writes Mrs. Eddy, "gives man power and strength" (Science and Health, p. 183), and this thought pervades all her teaching.

To his disciples Jesus said, "I give unto you power ... over all the power of the enemy;" and elsewhere, in explanation of the nature of this dynamic endowment, he said, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries [the vital truths] of the kingdom of God." Their sufficiency was to be determined by their knowledge of Spirit, their consciousness of good.

That many of the prophets and sages had a lively sense of this truth is unquestioned, and David speaks for them in that marvelous sentence of the twenty-seventh psalm: "The Lord is the strength of my life," while Isaiah hints at the metaphysics of this knowing, when he says, "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." On the other hand, that these ancient worthies often expected the divine power to be exhibited through the use of material means, seems equally apparent, though they were certainly far in advance of the great body of the people both of that day and of this. They had divined the inner meaning of the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

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