Article December 7, 1918 Issue

Permit me to thank you for your timely editorial, "Steady...

John M. Dean—Memphis, Tenn.

The News Scimitar

Permit me to thank you for your timely editorial, "Steady in the Boat." Such an utterance is as a gleam of light in the present day darkness of pessimism. ... Christian Scientists overcome fear through the understanding of the omnipotence of the divine Mind, or God, and this understanding destroys all belief in the ability of the human will, or "carnal mind," as Paul terms it, either to help or to hurt.

The present epidemic of fear furnishes a case in point, and if all who profess to worship the God of the Bible would make a practical application of their asserted beliefs regarding His all-power and goodness, they would be immune from harm in proportion to their understanding. "Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence," says that fear-destroying ninety-first psalm; and among his many definite promises to the same effect, Jesus said, "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Mrs. Eddy interprets these passages in her statement (Science and Health, p. 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." If these sayings were really believed, there would be no occasion for closing the churches and calling on the people to remain at home and pray against the spread of influenza. If the Bible is true, the house of God should be preeminently a place of safety, and now is the time of times to test it. Is an all-powerful God powerless against disease microbes, and can they take possession of the churches to His exclusion? Is Christianity good for fair weather but not for foul, and must prayer be understood as mere lip service? If this is true—if prayer is unavailing and God is not "a very present help in trouble"—the world would suffer no loss if the churches were to remain closed permanently.

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