Editorial February 16, 1918 Issue

Tranquillity

William D. McCrackan

After Nebuchadnezzar had related his dream to Daniel and the latter had interpreted it, he added the following words of warning: "Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." Nebuchadnezzar did not earn tranquillity at that time by following this advice, but he earned it later through experience. Christian Scientists are given the opportunity to enjoy true tranquillity through Science instead of suffering. So often the active human mind misses the mark of tranquillity through selfishness. To take possession of one's real self is practically to dispossess oneself of the false self and to find oneness and tranquillity with God. Man is individualized, reflecting spiritual activity, and the realization of this gives quietness and peace to troubled humanity. In Isaiah we read,

"In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." This tranquil quality instills into man the hardy robustness of spiritual endurance correcting the pressure of aggressive mental suggestion. True tranquillity breaks the back of scholastic theology by revealing the smile and joy of the real creation of God, wiping out the false and bad creation of mortal mind which contains sin, sickness, and death.

What a parody on God's work it is when the material creation is held up as the reality! The latter is decay, corruption, and sorrow; from its seeming very beginning it was a curse. But the real creation of life in the universe has a divine origin, everything worth while partaking of the value of God Himself, since it is made up of His qualities. Spiritual understanding shining through the misty veil of mortal beliefs reveals the heavenly atmosphere of reality, causes man to rouse himself from his sleepy, inherited traditions, the false education of his fathers. He can then stand forth firmly in answer to God's call, "Now is the day of salvation," fill a place in the ranks of Christian soldiers, and dare to master animal courage with spiritual courage.

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