The True Armament

Infinite, divine intelligence and its expression do not have to be armed against anything, for there cannot be anything besides the infinity which is all there is. The very infinity of the one Mind and its manifestation is perfect freedom and protection from any supposition of an opposite. This is the truth of spiritual armament which Christian Science teaches, taking nothing away but giving the real idea which reduces to nothingness false, human beliefs. It may seem novel to the world in general that international as well as individual order must be found in Mind; but this truth is vital and practical in its newness, its eternal freshness, because it arouses thought to the appreciation of absolute Principle. Just in proportion as each one demonstrates for himself that his true living is secure in Mind, untouched by illusory matter, he is sharing in the demonstration of permanent peace for all the world. He must actually prove for himself that his expression of divine intelligence rejects the suggestion that there could be either success or danger in matter, which is only belief in utterly supposititious mortal mind. As a man understands and proves this, he has the full advantage of spiritual armor in his every experience, and what one knows for himself he is entitled to know for all. This knowing in Christian Science is a constant unfoldment and a constant joy, tangibly appreciable and immediately satisfying.

On page 127 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" by Mary Baker Eddy, there is a remarkable paragraph on the subject of armament as understood in Christian Science, which includes the sentence: "Unlike Russia's armament, ours is not costly as men count cost, but it is rich beyond price, staunch and indestructible on land or sea; it is not curtailed in peace, surrendered in conquest, nor laid down at the feet of progress through the hands of omnipotence." The positive sureness that Principle governs the real man can never, of course, be curtailed, never be less than sufficient, never be discarded as obsolete. It is this sureness of the power of divine intelligence in any and all circumstances that needs to be considered first by all those who are interested in disarmament or the limitation of armament. The discernment of this spiritual fact alone can show either diplomatists or private citizens what is really best to do in any circumstances, whether in coming to an agreement or carrying out the essence of an agreement throughout developing experience. Understanding the presence of real armament, the omnipresence of infinite Mind's guaranteed right action, one can go forward fearlessly with the reduciton of useless material ways and means until all belief in materiality is found to be the nothingness which it always has been.

In the end, since infinite Mind with its infinite, spiritual manifestation is all there is, each one and each nation must be limited to this all for surety of peace and progress. To understand and put this truth into practice is not really to be limited but to be freed from the belief in limitation. Sooner or later there must be general acceptance of this fact that infinite Mind is the sole creator and preserver of order and equity universally. Meanwhile, step by step, here a little and there a little, there must be reduction of the materialistic belief in armament, rejection of what is worthless, and preparedness not for endless war but for energetic peace. It is always the human mind's sense of limitation, its reluctance to accept Truth, divine Principle, and its manifestation, that brings about any seeming conflict, for Truth is the producer of indestructible harmony. For peace, the activity involved in the use of material means of warfare must be turned to the purposes of Principle, must be found as spiritual idea instead of as material belief. All the while the spiritual idea, the vigorous action of Spirit, has been the only real action, even when mortal mind's belief in material action has seemed most rampant.