Article April 7, 1928 Issue

"Songs of deliverance"

KATHERINE ENGLISH

Long ago one who trusted in God when evil seemed to pursue and persecute him, joyously exclaimed, "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." These words of King David still echo in the hearts and ears of Christian Scientists. Have not we also found a hiding place from the sense of fear and evil in the consciousness of God's allness? And have not we been preserved from threatened harm again and again? When our lives have apparently been in danger from illness, when misfortune or accident has seemed impending, when difficulties have beset our path, have we not been saved and strengthened, so that our hearts have overflowed with gratitude and joy?

When Paul and Silas were unjustly beaten and imprisoned, when they were thrown into a dungeon with malefactors and their feet made "fast in the stocks," instead of bemoaning their hard fate, as many would have done, in the darkest hour they lifted up their hearts and voices in songs of thanksgiving to God for the demonstrations of His power and goodness which they had already witnessed. Such was the force of their gratitude that their songs became songs of deliverance; for suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the doors of the prison flew open, their "bands were loosed," and they, and all in their company, found themselves free. We, as Christian Scientists, are learning to seek for God, our Maker. When sorrow or anxiety steals our sleep from us, we turn to the Bible and to our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and, poring over the much loved pages, we find some statement of truth which restores our spiritual sense of existence, and once more the song of deliverance rises in our heart, our fetters fall, and we are free again.

Mrs. Eddy knew the restorative power of gratitude as well as she understood the strength-giving effect of obedience. She never gave a rule or a By-law to her church which did not increase the health, happiness, and prosperity of everyone who obeyed it. She instituted one service each week, and one special service each year, at which gratitude is the keynote. Every Wednesday evening, round the world, rise the "songs of deliverance," hour by hour, town by town, from the Far East to the Far West, as men and women gladly tell how Christian Science has ransomed them from disease, brought them back from the brink of the grave, redeemed them from poverty and vice, rescued them from despair, restored them to health, given them happy homes, because it has changed their thoughts from a material to a spiritual basis.

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