Article January 3, 1914 Issue

Protection

WILLARD S. MATTOX

One of the greatest services that Christian Science is performing for the world today, is by way of prevention. It is very generally conceded that Christian Science heals and reforms, but less is known about its inestimable value as a preventive of sickness and misfortune. There are unwritten chapters in the lives of Christian Scientists which, if they could be known, might amaze the world; a record of events which proves the loving care and guardianship of our God, infinite Mind.

A homely philosopher has shrewdly observed that "foresight is better than hind-sight." It is an act of wisdom to know in advance what are the designs of error, and what it is best to do in order to thwart its asserted claims. The blow that is foreseen and evaded, ceases to be a menace. It is good military tactics to discover the enemy's plans before they are executed. Many a battle has been won before it was fought. This is just the difference between what humanity generally understands to be protection, and the Christian Science interpretation of this important function of Providence. One is post facto, the other is before the event, and coming first, this kind of protection is practical and worth while, because it abolishes the belief that there is anything from which we need to be protected. Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question, Would you have me get out of a burning house, or stay in it?" emphasizes the scientific nature of the protection afforded by Christian Science. "I would have you already out," she says, "and know that you are out?" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 335).

In ancient days, when the moral concepts of the human race had risen no higher than the doctrine of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," cities of refuge were provided, where a man might seek safety from enemies and where his person was held inviolate. As moral ideals improved and advanced, the sense of protection from enemies became dematerialized, and we find the psalmist voicing a great spiritual truth in the ninety-first psalm,—"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him." Because man's trust is in God, in good, he is protected, and protection thus becomes a mental state rather than a material place of safety. The psalmist makes it plain that man's safety is in Mind, and not in any material modes or means of protection. We learn in Christian Science that its treatment means protection, and it also means abiding in the consciousness of God's allness. God is wholly responsible for man, for all that he undertakes, for all that he is or does. God, through His laws, orders and sustains all of man's activities, and therein lies man's constant protection.

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