Editorial January 4, 1930 Issue

Contending for God

Violet Ker Seymer

When Job's accusers sought to confuse and depress him he clung to his vision of God and retorted, "Ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value." Again, seeking to turn them to the goodness of God, he cried, "Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?" Even so to-day Christian Science is calling to all those laid low by sin, sickness, penury, discord, to those mistakenly resigning themselves to that which is evitable, "Will ye contend for God?" This true contending, inspired by the dawning recognition that God, good, is All-in-all, necessitates ceasing to argue, to contend, for discord as though it were inevitable.

It would be strange, indeed, if individuals, questioned as to whether sin and sickness, hate, fear, and poverty, should not disappear from human experience, were to reply negatively. On page 9 of "Christian Healing" Mrs. Eddy writes, "Contending for the reality of what should disappear is like furnishing fuel for the flames." Yet are not fallible theories found contending for disease as incurable, for fear as inevitable, for poverty as irremediable, revenge as sometimes admissible, and sorrow as creditable? Now Christian Science, contrariwise, bids one maintain a courageous stand in contending for God's gifts of righteousness, health, abundance of good, and cloudless joy. These gifts are the irrefutable, healing facts of spiritual being, brought into present manifestation through Christian Science.

In the records of both the Old and the New Testament God's witnesses were faithful in contending for the dominion of good, and His prophet, Isaiah, thus proclaims the assurance of divine power: "I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children." No one is struggling alone in a righteous cause, for Mind is inspiring and rewarding the right contention. Do right and wrong contend on the same level or from the same basis? No, for evil is unprincipled, lawless, and cannot successfully contend with divine Principle, or with spiritual law, operating here and now to heal and redeem mankind. Contending for the inevitability of discord is traceable to faith in evil and ignorance of God and His purposes. Contending for man's divine rights is the fruit of spiritual understanding. God's omnipotence is established and eternally operative, and nothing can disestablish it or arrest its healing activity in our midst. But it is found to operate only as this omnipotence is measurably understood and is trusted by the individual.

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