Be Not Deceived of Shadows!

ETHEL COMBS LUENING

Every motorist is familiar with the appearance of a road barred by the shadows of trees or of telegraph poles. The road appears to be strewn with obstructions which, if accepted as real, would render it impassable. What is the motorist's attitude toward this seemingly rough stretch he must travel? He realizes the powerlessness of the shadow obstacles to disturb or delay his progress, and without anxiety or hesitation he keeps his course along the clear road. He does not think of turning back and choosing another way, or of tracing a sinuous course in and out among the shadow bars, in order to avoid them. He judges correctly. The evidence before the eyes seems positive; the bars appear to be there, yet the road is smooth, and his thought is on the fact, not on the falsity.

What should be our attitude toward difficulties that arise, and which may threaten a rough experience ahead? Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 264), "Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things;" and she adds, "We must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being." The road along which we are to travel is a perfect road. It was pointed out by the Master. The foundation is divine Principle, which changes not; but material sense would cast all manner of illusions across our path and bid us stumble over shadows. This goodly road is composed of every element and quality needful for true activity, harmony, health, happiness, and success. Christian Science teaches travelers along life's highway to distinguish between the true and the false, between what God has provided for man's good and what materiality presumes to superimpose upon the perfect creation.

At times there may seem to be shadow bars across the path, shadows of lack—lack of faith, inspiration, gratitude, obedience; or there may be doubt, confusion, self-will, fear, which the physical senses solemnly assure us are actual. Then we should let spiritual understanding penetrate the illusion appearing to obstruct the good road, that we may follow the clear line of underlying reality. The truth of being cannot be obscured from the vision of the earnest seeker who spontaneously denies the existence and power of everything which does not originate in God, and knows that where imperfection seems to be is the divine idea of God, reflecting ever active. all-powerful Mind.

The good road lies straight ahead, and there is only one way of traveling it—the divine way. We cannot circumvent Truth. We must meet its demands through spiritual thinking. Right activity, heavenly attributes, and orderly progress must engage thought and effort in order to lead us triumphantly through the pretensions and empty boasts of material hindrances, delays, pitfalls, and insufficiencies of whatever kind. The path becomes clear in proportion to our understanding of God, and of ourselves and others as being in reality His spiritual ideas.

In the thirteenth chapter of Luke we read of the woman "which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years," whom Jesus healed. Did he destroy something real? No, a false belief was uncovered and destroyed, and the woman's freedom declared. The great Teacher spoke of the belief as Satan, saying that Satan had bound her. The healing was accomplished by bringing about a change in her thought. A shadow was removed from her sense of health; and the fact proved that health is neither sustained nor endangered by matter, since all is Mind. It is well to remember not only that materiality is powerless to harm, but also that it confers no real blessing. That it seems to do so is only one of error's many deceptions.

The mounting sun of understanding, the light of Truth, removes every shadow. Is not the victory simply the correction of wrong thinking? Then in the morning brightness let us not look back upon the errors behind us on the road, but rather let us glorify and praise His handiwork. The true friend invites his fellow traveler to rejoice in gratitude with him, showing what he has gained in spiritual discernment, thus helping his comrade also to gain a truer view of real being. If we would travel well, spiritual perception, obedience to Principle, and universal love must abide in our consciousness, quickening spiritual sense and activating the unselfish motives of daily life. The blessing is not limited to the individual who proves the truth, but proportionately aids all mankind; and the destruction of the illusions of sense in one instance foretells their eventual complete destruction.

And what of the road far ahead, as yet unseen? We can rejoice that this also is in God's keeping. God's creation is complete, and there can be nothing new to the all-knowing Mind. To God, all good is already established, and is forever unfolding. Man, reflecting his Father, Mind, knows only uninterrupted security and blessedness. Understanding this, we may prove that "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

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Spiritual Ear-Training

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