Article April 14, 1928 Issue

Overcoming Obstacles

EDNA L. EARNEST

From the records of the Old Testament and the writings of the New, and later through the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we learn that God is All-in-all, that He made all, and that man is His image and likeness. There are no obstacles to the realization of these truths except those evolved by wrong thinking. God does not make obstacles to separate His children from Him; we, in belief, make them ourselves.

Difficulties are met and surmounted by knowing that they have no reality; that they do not exist, since God did not make them. But this is not always known clearly enough to destroy the false belief instantly, and there are usually steps to be taken to reach the understanding which annihilates it. An obstacle can, however, be overcome by rising above it and not allowing it to obscure the vision of the truth; and the truth thus discerned will then remove it.

A helpful lesson may be learned from the experience Zacchæus. Jesus was to pass through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem, and many, like Zacchæus, had assembled along the roadside to look upon him as he passed, to see "who he was." The crowd was so closely massed that Zacchæus, being short of stature, was unable to see over the heads of the others. If disappointment came to him, it did not long remain, but was routed by his great desire to see the Master. Instead of repining or angrily pushing, he looked about him for some way to surmount this obstacle, and saw a sycamore tree growing near by. Running ahead of the crowd, he climbed up into the tree, whence, unobstructed, he could see Jesus pass, without interfering with others who desired the same privilege.

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