Apprehension

THE human mind is like an instrument of many strings, responding to every touch and sounding whatever note is struck. It will soar high in jubilant anticipation, only to fall deep into fits of depression at the first supposedly unfavorable circumstance. And not only circumstances seem to play upon it, but it fluctuates at all so-called influences; it is a jungle of emotions, and one of its pet theories, with which it seeks to explain its many moods and instability, is what it terms apprehension,—apprehension sometimes in the sense of expectation of good things to come, but more often in the sense of distrust or fear of future evils. The belief in apprehension or forebodings is the child of the claim of minds many, which again is the offspring of the supposititious mortal mind, the counterfeit of the one divine Mind. To admit the existence of this mortal mind is to admit all there is to evil and its consequences, for that which knows both good and evil is inconsistent in itself and incapable of constructive reasoning and true apprehension. It is a departure from and ignorance of, as well as gross disobedience to the First Commandment. To know and understand Mind is to understand God; only this understanding can render one immune to the fluctuating beliefs and consequent misery of the presentiment of things to come. It is this understanding of God, this desire for unchanging harmony and completeness which every human being consciously or unconsciously is striving for. Weary of the fleeting joys and frequent misery of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, finding that all the unhappiness and the joys which end in sorrow are but the immediate result of the false concept men have had of Mind, mankind struggles for emancipation from the erroneous and seeks refuge in Truth. Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, says in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the textbook of Christian Science (p. 407): "Here Christian Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the weakness of mortal mind,—strength from the immortal and omnipotent Mind,—and lifting humanity above itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and good-will to man."

The Bible has always been most emphatic in its persistence for monotheism. In the book of Job we are told, "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." This advice was the result of Job's experience, the fruit of the lessons from his battles with and victory over the belief of mind in matter, life and intelligence separate from God. Unswerving loyalty to God, even when he considered himself smitten by Him, brought him through the tangled woods of belief to the glorious vista of understanding, where he could perceive the allness of good and the consequent nothingness of evil; this wonderful sense of good and comprehension of God was made manifest in heaven-bestowed blessings.

Christian Science makes possible for us this very acquaintance, and as each experience deepens the understanding of the seeker for Truth he learns to know God, who is Mind, infinite Love and Life. To know God is to be conscious of the one true apprehension, the apprehension of eternally unfolding good. After her discovery of the Principle which underlies all being,—and Principle is in Christian Science but another name for God, the Most High,—Mrs. Eddy proved the applicability of the unchangeable law which reveals and demonstrates Truth, Life, and Love in the very place where the supposititious opposite, the human belief of error, sin, and disease seemed to be, and she elucidated her wonderful discovery and its application in her many writings. In concise but unmistakable language she shows forth the mythical existence of the human or mortal mind and gives us a clear explanation, based upon demonstration, of God as Mind, and man His manifestation. Finding, then, God to be the one and only Mind, one can immediately see the fallacy of the belief of minds many and the consequent impossibility of both evil and good apprehensions.