Editorial September 2, 1922 Issue

"A refuge from the storm"

Duncan Sinclair

At the present time it would seem as if the claims of mortal mind were being urged to the uttermost. Evil appears to be rampant in the world, sometimes under the most subtle forms, sometimes under crasser guise. At no time in the world's history, probably, have men known more about and practiced more extensively the so-called hypnotic methods of mortal mind; and possibly at no previous time has evil been less abashed in its attempts at domination. People everywhere are recognizing the situation, even if they are unable to scientifically analyze it; and happy are those who can turn to God for enlightenment, and strength and courage whereby to meet and defeat the attacks of evil; happy are they if they can say with Isaiah, "Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat." Never was there greater need for a turning of the whole people unto God.

What is the seeming cause of all the struggle and strife of the world? What is the reason for all its sorrow and suffering? Why those tears shed in the open and in the silent places? How comes it about that many are diseased and others often faint and weary? The same answer may be returned to any one of such questions. The seeming cause of every human woe is material sense. Material sense is the lie which eats at the vitals of humanity. Material sense is the serpent which mankind hugs to its bosom, only to receive the sting whose venom claims to defeat the purposes of good. Traced to its source every form of human suffering will be found to spring from material or corporeal sense.

What, then, is the antidote for the virus of material sense? It is spiritual sense; as Mrs. Eddy puts it in "Unity of Good" (p. 57), "Man's refuge is in spirituality, 'under the shadow of the Almighty.' " There must be a radical turning away in thought from matter to Spirit, if one would overcome material sense, and be freed from its disasters, sorrows, and suffering. To accomplish this, it is necessary to gain an understanding of the Almighty, — God or Spirit. That is what Christian Science is constantly telling mankind. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," it says; and from beginning to end of Mrs. Eddy's writings the truth is told about God, and how He may become "our refuge and strength" and our "help in trouble." There is nothing obscure or mystical about man's relationship to God. The relationship is scientifically established and sustained by spiritual law. All may understand it through Christian Science; and greater freedom from all the ills which afflict mankind will follow.

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