Editorial November 18, 1916 Issue

Courage of Our Convictions

William D. McCrackan

In order to reject the clamorous demands of the carnal mind the Christian Scientist needs moral courage of a high order. Watching beside the sick, or facing "the last enemy that shall be destroyed;" uncovering sin and resisting its revenge; shocked by total depravity, yet refusing to fear it; divinely authorized to attempt the humanly impossible, he is constantly being tested as to the courage of his spiritual convictions. The Christian Scientist at every moment of his career needs the calm, sublime consciousness of power which characterized the patriarchs and the prophets and was a sign of the Messiahship of Christ Jesus.

Among Moses' parting instructions to the children of Israel, with reference to their encompassing enemies, was also this: "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." The psalmist sang his good cheer in the words, "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord;" and the Master uttered his sublime "Be not afraid" and his comforting "Fear not, little flock." Every great teacher in history has preached and practised moral courage, and no career has exemplified this quality more strikingly than that of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who knew whereof she spoke when she stated on page 327 of her great work, Science and Health, "Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right."

Now, no one is so well fitted to give courage to a struggling Christian Scientist as a fellow Scientist. No one can so clearly appreciate the need for protecting thought as the spiritual warrior who is himself fighting at the front and is familiar with the danger. Human history has passed through many heroic periods, but it is a question whether greater moral courage has ever been displayed by any body of people than is now being displayed by those consecrated women and men who are serving mankind through Christian Science. It is they who today are facing undauntedly perils unknown to the world at large but uncovered to them by Truth.

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