Article July 24, 1920 Issue

The present world upheaval in religion, politics, and in...

The Christian Science Monitor

The present world upheaval in religion, politics, and in all the affairs of men is a condition to rejoice the heart of the true metaphysician. It is a sign of Emmanuel, God with us. Nothing less than the tremendous injection of Truth which Christian Science has brought into the world could have caused this progressive condition in which old things are seen to pass away and all things become new. The student of Christian Science realizes that all is infinite Mind and that there is no action, propulsion, nor dynamic force outside of the Mind which is God; he recognizes that what is viewed with dismay by the human mind is but the destruction of false belief, which destruction sets free, and is one with the unfoldment of good. The Scriptures abound with passages which should enable the present day thinker to analyze correctly the upheaval which is taking place. Reading thoughtfully Jesus' warning to the Pharisees, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" should be enough to awaken those who look upon the present stir with consternation; and the words from the Old Testament, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be," and many other Scriptural texts give assurance that the truth which has caused this upheaval is always more powerful than the seeming opposition which it calls forth.

The writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, throughout explain the upheaval caused by the action of Truth upon error; pages 96 through 99 of Science and Health, especially, define the situation in which the world finds itself to-day, including on page 98, "The prophet of to-day beholds in the mental horizon the signs of these times, the reappearance of the Christianity which heals the sick and destroys error, and no other sign shall be given." And on page 53, Mrs. Eddy, speaking of a similar experience during Jesus' time, says, "The world could not interpret aright the discomfort which Jesus inspired and the spiritual blessings which might flow from such discomfort." It is well to be watchful in these days properly to interpret the signs of these times, to learn and to remain steadfast in the understanding that the only activity is the activity of the one Mind. If in seeing the breaking up of false beliefs we accept the mortal view and are deceived by the erroneous suggestion that evil is doing aught, except as it seems stirred to resistance by the approach of Truth understood, in that moment we are enthroning evil as power. He who understands the truth of being as taught by Christian Science must always rejoice.

Because the world has entered upon a new stage of experience it is necessary to take cognizance of that fact in order to meet the demands of this hour. The mental conflict has followed speedily the close of the material phase of Armageddon. The so-called forces of evil, having failed in the use of material means, renew their suppositional efforts by aggressive mental suggestion. As the understanding of Truth rises higher, the claims of evil, in their attempts to counterfeit, assume new and less understood forms. The following example may serve to illustrate: When the material belief that certain individuals cannot thrive in certain places, because of the atmosphere or climate, has been destroyed through an understanding of Christian Science, this belief can never again be accepted by the one who had seen its nothingness, but the suggestion may come in changed form that there is an unhealthy mental atmosphere, that corrupt thought abounds in certain places so as to threaten one's very life. Such a claim is of course the very opposite of the truth and has no foundation in fact, but in dealing with it one should note that the suggestion has changed from the temptation to believe in material substance, as a power apart from God, to the temptation to believe in an evil mind, as a power apart from God. Christian Science shows us that there are no counterfeit activities capable of forming a basis of action or possessing real entity.

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