Article January 14, 1933 Issue

The Second Look

RAY SHEARER TRENT

In II Kings it is recorded that on one occasion the king of Syria sent by night a large army to Dothan, a village in the hill country of Israel, for the purpose of surrounding it and so capturing Elisha, the man of God. When the servant of Elisha, rising early and walking forth, beheld the encompassing host, he was filled with terror and exclaimed, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" Assuring the servant that there was no cause for alarm, Elisha prayed God to open the servant's eyes that he might see. "And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

Today, as in the days of Elisha, mankind seems to be encompassed by the hosts of Syria—sickness, poverty, fear, discord, discouragement, despair. Is there no way of escape? There is; and Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has pointed it out in these words (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 129): "We must look deep into realism instead of accepting only the outward sense of things." It was this second look, the deeper look into realism, that revealed to the roused understanding of Elisha's servant the spiritual reality, seen as "horses and chariots of fire;" and it is this deep look which reveals to the uplifted consciousness in every age the all-encompassing good and man's present perfection.

This realm of the real, which is disclosed to spiritual perception, the only right look, is wholly spiritual and perfect. It is the realm of infinite Mind and the infinite manifestation of Mind, God and His thoughts. In this realm good, being infinite, fills all space, constitutes all substance, comprises all real experience, hence there is no matter, no evil, nothing unlike good. Coexistent with Mind, or God, is man, the idea of Mind, wholly spiritual, dwelling forever in Mind, reflecting all the qualities of the parent Mind, and cognizing only the thoughts which emanate from this all-knowing Mind. Such thoughts are round about everyone, and constitute the real environment, security, and supply.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Seeing the Real Man