Article October 28, 1922 Issue

The Lectures

with contributions from R. E. Key, Della Somers, Brigman C. Odom

Sheffield, England (First Church). — Introducing George Shaw Cook, a Christian Science lecturer, Lieutenant Colonel R. E. Key spoke as follows: —

The world is weary of war; and we have not come this evening to hear about war, but about peace and the things that pertain to it. The question for humanity to-day is, How can peace be established? Physical force can never establish peace. I was very much struck by the wise words of the American preacher, Doctor Crane, who, addressing a London audience recently, said, "It is a delusion to say that force is effective. . . . From the days of conquering Greece and imperial Rome down to the days of the czar and the kaiser nations have tried to defend themselves by arms. . . . The real weakness of every country is its military forces, and the real strength of any country is its friendship with other countries. Every nation is saved by its friendships, not by its armies." Undoubtedly these words contain a great truth; but the question is and always has been, How can the world find rest? The cessation of physical warfare will not bring the measure of freedom we require.

We want freedom from sorrow, sickness, unemployment, fear, sin, and death. Some one may say, "Oh, but those evils are all part of the inevitable: we simply have to dodge them as long as we can." Christian Science puts a new complexion on this outlook. Let me illustrate by a little incident how Christian Science enabled me to help a brother officer during one of the fiercest battles on the Western Front. I was commanding a battalion, when a wounded officer, who had been hit on the head by shrapnel, was brought up, and the doctor pronounced little hope for his recovery. Now we all loved this officer very much; and as I saw the tears standing in the doctor's eyes, a wave of revulsion against this diabolical verdict of death came over me. I knew from my experience as a Christian Scientist that it is God, the ever present divine Love, which heals, and that I must realize that ever-presence for this wounded man. I recognized the loving nature of this man, and saw that God's idea, man, could not be separated from the divine Principle of man's being, and that man is not governed by a suppositional devil called death, but by a God who is Life. No word was spoken, but this silent affirmation of truth was persistently made. In a few moments the doctor changed his tone, and there seemed a gleam of hope in the situation. In twenty minutes or so the wounded officer was running back to the dressing station. What happened in that shellswept place can happen here and everywhere, when we realize the truth of the healing message of Christian Science.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

I wish to tell of a healing that took place for me a few...