Every Bible student is more or less familiar with the account of the Israelites in bondage in Babylon. The writer of the one hundred and thirty-seventh psalm has drawn a very touching word picture of their plight in that "strange land": "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"

How cheering and inspiring to know that even while in a "strange land," in bondage to foreign masters, surrounded by what must have seemed to be most depressing and discouraging conditions, at least some of these Israelites caught glorious glimpses of the ever-presence of God! The prophet Ezekiel, who was one of their number, says, "Now it came to pass ... as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." Then follows a stirring account of those visions which, even after centuries have passed, thrill us and inspire us to be more Godlike, more persistent in our efforts for good, that we, too, may get soul-inspiring visions of God.

The inference may safely be drawn that Ezekiel wasted no time harboring thoughts of resentment or revenge towards the Babylonians, or in useless speculation on the past or future. It is not recorded that he indulged in self-pity or self-condemnation, or that he sought to blame some one else for his condition. Looking away from all material manifestations, he turned unreservedly to God for help and guidance in his hour of trouble, and found God to be a loving, compassionate Father, waiting to comfort and heal. He proved God to be a God at hand, just as He had been at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and when he had caught glimpses of Him in the hushed solemnity of the worship hours in the valleys of Galilee. The prophet proved Zion to be near at hand, even while surrounded by captives on the river bank in far-off Babylonia. He proved that man is God's child, and that he could find himself in no place or situation where God is not, and where God's law is not operative and supreme. He proved the paramount importance of correct thinking, even when he found himself in a "strange land." He proved that in reality there is no such thing as a "strange land," but only the consciousness of God's ever-presence. And he proved, further, that a correct attitude of thought, adhered to, will deliver from unreal bondage. All this he proved while a captive in a "strange land," far from home and in the face of conditions tending to fear, ingratitude, resentment, and discouragement.

The argument is a subtle one that would mesmerize Christian Scientists to-day into a state of resentment, revenge, apathy, or helplessness in the presence of error of any nature. Error is ever ready with the stultifying argument: Yes, I know that God is good, and that Christian Science heals; also, I believe that conditions of poverty, sickness, bondage to sinful habits (or whatever the nature of the error that seeks to enter our consciousness may be) are not real; but my case is different, and I have not sufficient spiritual understanding to handle this case, and might as well sit down and await the logic of events! And while we are thus playing into the hands of the enemy, behold, an Ezekiel emerges triumphant from just such a situation, with victory indelibly stamped on his countenance.

The Israelites sat down. But this was no indication of helpless submission to bondage; rather was it an act of supreme wisdom, for we note that it was by the rivers they rested. Now Mrs. Eddy has defined "river" on page 593 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in part, as "channel of thought;" so we see that what really took place was that they rested in Truth, clinging to thoughts of God. And behold the result, as given in the words of Ezekiel: "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God"! The adversary in belief is ever at hand to retard our spiritual advancement with a great variety of destructive suggestions. Two of these have their roots deep in the soil of Eden, and have sent their destructive shoots into every country and land under the sun: they are ingratitude and fear.

Ingratitude is a very subtle enemy to health, usefulness, and happiness. It is the nature of ingratitude to lull us into forgetfulness of God's present goodness to us, by holding before our eyes something which it tells us we need, and which is often not for our benefit at all. Before we can rid ourselves of bondage to foreign taskmasters, we must first uproot ingratitude, if it has found a foothold in the soil of our lives. How often in our Wednesday evening testimony meetings we are lovingly privileged to sing "one of the songs of Zion," to bear testimony to the healing power of Truth and Love to our brothers and sisters who may be in bondage to some form of error we have overcome! How our hearts should go out in unbounded gratitude to God for this glorious privilege; and with what perseverance we should strive to overcome the error that would keep us from giving a cup of cold water to such waiting hearts!

We may be sure that whatever form error may assume, it has no intelligence, power, or reality, and must give way before the God-given desire to share our blessings with others. We should remember that in our Wednesday evening meetings there may be those who sit supinely by, terrified, while to them a river of poverty, sin, sickness, or sorrow seems to go dashing by, threatening to engulf them, and who have become mesmerized into thinking of those things as real and enduring, and so have become discouraged in their efforts to cast them out of their lives. We ought to remember, also, that Truth is all-powerful, and that often all that is needed is a fearless expression of heartfelt gratitude to God to rouse the frightened and bewildered one to the unreal nature of the things that hold him in bondage, and thus start him on the highway to healing and freedom from foreign masters. It can safely be said that no form of error, whether mental or physical, can long assert itself in the face of real gratitude to God for blessings already received.

It is well to remember, also, that to these meetings come those who may be at the crossroads, halting between two opinions—those who have heard of healings through the agency of Christian Science and are waiting, it may be, with bated breath to hear that the special form of error that seems so real to them has been blotted out of the life of another through the power of Truth and Love. What a pity, then; that when we have felt the healing touch of Christian Science in our own lives, and when there are around us those waiting to hear of these experiences, we should sit idly by and fail to express our gratitude!

Mrs. Eddy has given us an inkling of what real gratitude is, and what it will do for us, in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 164), where she writes, "What is gratitude but a powerful camera obscura, a thing focusing light where love, memory, and all within the human heart is present to manifest light." So we see that gratitude acts as that which focuses light, bringing into view things which before were hidden in the cold, misty atmosphere of ingratitude. It will bring into view harmony, where discord seemed to run rampant. It will bring into view the real man of God's creating, where mayhap a poor, sick, sinning, or discordant personality seemed present. It will bring into view man's birthright of dominion over all things, where bondage to unreal conditions and man-made laws seemed to operate. It will bring into view life, where the fear of death seemed present. When we have made gratitude our own, then the promise of Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health (p. 264), "Multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will become visible," will find fulfillment in us. Thus will gratitude usher into our lives abundance, where poverty and lack before seemed present.

Fear is one of the most destructive, as well as one of the most unreasonable false beliefs that beset mankind. And fear always has its origin in the false belief of a power apart from God, good. Is it not our failure to know God as the only power and presence, that sometimes tempts us in our Wednesday evening meetings to withhold the cup of cold water from the needy ones? The Apostle John has given love as the never failing antidote for fear. So if we are harassed by fear, if our desire to sing "one of the songs of Zion" is beset with fear, we have but to learn to love more; to learn that God is Love, ever present and omnipotent. We shall add greatly to our courage if we but realize that the desire to share our blessings with others is of God, that this desire acts as an unfailing link connecting us with the infinitely good God, who is Love. Then if we are willing to put self out of the way, so that we may become a channel for God's message alone, we shall not only overcome and cast out fear, but we shall hail with joy and gratitude the opportunity to sing "one of the songs of Zion."

For a time Jacob greatly feared meeting his brother Esau at Peniel. The memory of a past, when he had practiced duplicity and fraud in his dealings with Esau, caused Jacob to look with alarm on their meeting. But after a night spent at Peniel, during which he had "seen God face to face," we read that on seeing Jacob, "Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." So we see that fear cannot withstand the power of Love, for in reality there is no presence but Love and Love's ideas. Error would tempt us into believing that there is a power in our meetings manifesting itself as pride, criticism, jealousy, or other evil attributes. We should not harbor such deceptive suggestions for one moment; for where to us may seem to be a cold, critical, indifferent personality there may be a heart reaching out for the love it is ours to impart. To sing "one of the songs of Zion" may be the innermost desire of that heart.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, journeyed a long, lone way through the wilderness of mortal mind, traversing the deep morasses of fear, doubt, and discouragement; over the pitfalls of deceit, betrayal, and misunderstanding; across the mountains of materia medica, scholasticism, and false theology, which were all arrayed against the spiritual idea that God had called upon her to reveal to human consciousness. The Red Seas she so bravely crossed remain unnumbered; but by always striving to keep her thought in line with divine Principle, and sounding forth God's praises fearlessly, she bore aloft the banner of Christ, Truth, marking the way for all who care to follow her. She sang "the songs of Zion" as no one else in this age has sung them; and to the uttermost parts of the earth has gone forth that pæan of praise. Thus did she wend her way into the land of Christian Science, where the wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad, and where the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose.

Copyright, 1926, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, Falmouth and St. Paul Streets, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.