Editorial December 15, 1917 Issue

One Cause

William D. McCrackan

To rejoice in the scientifically Christian conviction that there is but one cause, and that God, good, is that cause, is to possess the scepter of spiritual dominion which destroys sorrow, sickness, and sin. The bereaved, the diseased, those bound by the ignorance which is sin, are all suffering from the belief that there is more than one cause. Death itself is but a supposition that another power besides God can dispute the life of man with Him. The oneness of all spiritual causation underlies the whole of the Hebrew theology out of which came the Christian. "The Lord our God is one Lord" is the Hebrew declaration of independence from the seeming power of evil. Jesus completed man's emancipation when he declared, "I and my Father are one," but this statement was not scientifically explained until Mrs. Eddy showed that man in God's image and likeness is one with the Father-Mother in quality, expressing the divine attributes. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 85 of Science and Health: "The great Teacher knew both cause and effect, knew that truth communicates itself but never imparts error." To-day the spiritually minded have within their mental reach, ready to be demonstrated in overcoming evil, the comforting, provable assurance that God, as the one and only cause, neither sends nor knows evil.

Of this one cause it can be definitely stated that "his mercy endureth forever." In that superb outburst of glorious assurance, known as the one hundred and thirty-sixth psalm, every verse ends with this powerful note of mercy. His reward is ever with Him. God is described as good, "the God of gods," "the Lord of lords," the doer of wonders, the creator of heaven and earth, of the sun, moon, and stars, the destroyer of evil, the rescuer of Israel, that is, of that state of consciousness which is receptive of spiritual teaching, who leads man through the loneliness and doubts of the wilderness, brushes aside the kings of earth, the seemingly powerful beliefs of materiality, and provides an undying heritage for His redeemed. After Nehemiah with great spiritual endurance and divine guidance had been able to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, a solemn act of repentance was performed by the children of Israel, and the Levites rehearsed God's endless forbearance in spite of their repeated backslidings: "Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."

When, therefore, the patient discloses his trouble to the Christian Science practitioner, he uncovers his fears, and these repose upon his ignorance of the eternal fact that God is the only cause and that He is merciful. Moreover, this one cause is Mind. Herein lies the solution of the questioning which comes to every aspiring Christian who has wondered how God could be ever powerful and yet invisible. Mind cannot be seen, nor for that matter can power of any kind be visible to material sense. But Mind can be everywhere present and operate as cause unseen. This one God who is ever merciful is, therefore, to be approached mentally or spiritually, through the avenues of divine logic and fundamental reasoning which are effective in healing sin and sickness, because they transcend personal sense. If there is no causation in matter, physical law, or mortal mind, then there can be no effects from such supposititious cause. The whole phantasmagoria of material existence is seen to be mere illusion, based upon no cause, deriving its sanction from no authority, performing its gyrations in a vicious circle having neither sanction nor force in fact.

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