Editorial August 22, 1925 Issue

Protection

Ella W. Hoag

The thought of protection always implies security and safety; it means preservation from difficulty, a guarding from harm. A sense of enmity and danger has ever been connected therewith; for without an enemy or the possibility of injury, what need would there be for protection?

From the beginning of mortal history men have sought protection. Starting with the belief that man has a separate existence from God, good, and that he is therefore at the mercy of evil, mankind has always recognized the need of protection from evil. Imagining largely that their enemies were from without, men have attempted to defend themselves by erecting around themselves bulwarks and barricades. When they have found these powerless to protect, then they have turned to God, hoping that in some mysterious, unexplained way He would save them.

Religionists have preached loudly of God as the supreme protector; but have they understood just what His protection includes, or how to claim it? Have they known what constitutes an enemy? The fact that multitudes of Christian people who have believed they have trusted implicitly in God have at the same time believed they could be overcome by all sorts of dilemmas and distresses, would indicate a lack of understanding of how to trust God, as well as a failure to see clearly from what they were to be protected.

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