Handling the Serpent

MARGUERITE VON NEUFVILLE

When we first gain a glimpse of God's spiritual, real creation, like Moses we are impelled to throw away our belief in material living and material power, the staff on which we were leaning. In our joy over the new-gained vision of Truth, we take this step gladly, feeling sure that in this new light we can walk safely, and that evil will touch us no more. But to our amazement we soon discover that this is not all we have to do; and we begin to see that the thrown-away staff comes back to us in the form of a serpent. We see it for the first time in its hideousness and aggressiveness; and in our disappointment too often we are driven away by fear, forgetting that we should stand firm and demonstrate our new-found knowledge of God's allness by proving its power to overcome the serpent.

There is no wisdom in fleeing from error: evil beliefs will follow us until we take our stand and handle them, overcoming our fear; for thus we scientifically demonstrate evil's unreality, leaning on the newly found staff of spiritual understanding. This handling of the serpent, this warfare with error, is necessary to our progress heavenward. It is not sufficient simply to declare for God's allness: we must strive to prove it. In the light of Truth we must discover the hidden subtleties of all false beliefs, and destroy them patiently and persistently. Often one is tempted to be discouraged over the many problems which present themselves. Then we should remember Jesus' words, "I came not to send peace, but a sword."

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says, "The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." We do not remember as we should that this sword is equal to every emergency; that "error falls only before the sword of Spirit," as Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 37). The Word of God, when rightly applied, does the work; and we have the promise of God to the prophet Isaiah, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." And God said to the same prophet, "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me." It is greatly comforting to know that the understanding of God, good, gives us dominion over evil, and that all of Truth is present for us to use in this glorious warfare.

We long for good. We must be ready to strive for it, and cease to sigh over evil, seeing in its claims to presence and power only opportunities to demonstrate and to reflect more and yet more of good. We should be thankful for the light that has come to reveal to us the nature of the serpent that is to be handled. Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 92): "Uncover error, and it turns the lie upon you. Until the fact concerning error—namely, its nothingness—appears, the moral demand will not be met, and the ability to make nothing of error will be wanting." We should not then be afraid of the uncovering of error, but should know that the truth in regard to its nothingness must appear. And in working this out we not only shall solve our own individual problems, but shall see the purport of Mrs. Eddy's words fulfilled (ibid., p. 103), "The destruction of the claims of mortal mind through Science, by which man can escape from sin and mortality, blesses the whole human family."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Grateful Receptivity

December 4, 1926

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit