"Women and children first"

William D. McCrackan

This rule of the sea declares a home truth which is everywhere in order. It points to the supreme value which must be set upon the qualities of womanhood and childhood. The gallant attempt of seamen to give their lives for the rescue of those they have been taught should come first, arouses a great respect in the hearts of mankind. In bravely helping to lift high into immortality a deep regard for women and children, the sailors are helping the woman, as it is declared of the earth in the Apocalypse. Mrs. Eddy had seen this when she wrote on page 570 of Science and Health: "In this age the earth will help the woman; the spiritual idea will be understood. Those ready for the blessing you impart will give thanks. The waters will be pacified, and Christ will command the wave."

The surging resistance of hatred to truth sometimes seems like the mighty waves of the deep, but a noble thought, a kindly act, the mental touch of the Christ-spirit pours "the oil of gladness" upon this dark belief, and then the true concept of the mighty waves of the sea is seen to be that which upholds, sustains, and delivers, instead of that which destroys. Is there a more touching scene than a mother and her babe in distress at sea? The appalling waves of fear, rolling mountains high, are checked by the calm of "Peace, be still," when the Principle of Christian Science is understood and applied. God has put into the heart of man the necessary courage, strength, and endurance to brave the elements in fulfilling his duty, and to stand at his post, whatever harmful circumstances seem to prevail. This gallantry is the knighthood of the sea.

Some day the real man will be revealed to this human good man as clothed with the enduring gentle love of the womanly qualities characterizing the real woman. In this way the garden of Eden will be restored, and Paradise, which has been but a vague apparition, will be rightly understood. All can be spiritual emperors, warriors, and knights. The spiritual power of man is the real emperor. The real warrior with his mighty trust in God, to whom, as Jesus declared, "all things are possible," goes forth with his sling, recognizing error as error and God as God, thus making the earth safe for the people to dwell upon.

The real knight is the gentle-man, the noble, compassionate type of manhood who has learned to love, perhaps through suffering, by the mental battles over self and what the seeming world has placed upon him. Here lies real safety, in knowing man's true manhood. Many a rugged pathway may be necessary to subdue the animal nature inherent in mortal man, his tendencies to selfishness, materiality, cruelty, brutality, greed, and dishonesty. But the highway of right endeavor is lined with mile-stones marked "Women and children first." It teaches the lesson: Make way for the qualities of compassion, fidelity, protection, joy, and spontaneity. This way of safety means the safety of manhood. The mother's love is the safest place where a child abides, and man will define this love to be his safest place when he has learned the truth to find, even taking years to unwind in the Father-Mother Mind. In Zechariah's vision of the restored Jerusalem there was special mention of the children, for we read, "And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof."

In all the safety devices of human ingenuity there never has been greater safety than is provided by the protecting love of the ever present power of God. Mrs. Eddy has bestowed the understanding of this protecting power as her supreme gift to the world. In man's direst extremity this power will rescue him from the depth of the sea, from the bomb explosion, from the caved-in mine, and from the wounded aeroplane dashing through the air. Women and children with safety first can best be efficiently expressed by having God first, thus losing one's sense of life in saving others.

William D. McCrackan.

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