Article August 19, 1933 Issue

The Supreme Confidence

WILLIAM MACNAGHTEN MACDONALD

Without some measure of trust and confidence in others, the affairs of men could not be carried on, nor could the ordinary amenities of life be enjoyed. Each day and hour most of us are in contact with our fellow men, and we should see that, as Paul stated, "none of us liveth to himself," for "we live unto the Lord." In our relationships one with another a state of individual trustworthiness is, as a rule, taken for granted and more or less unconsciously accepted. Confidence between human beings is usually evoked by some particular attribute or personal qualification, but a noteworthy exception to this rule is found in the faith and confidence extended by young children to their parents and others, a beautiful example of trustful love, which the Master himself made use of in his teachings.

Turning to consider what is meant by confidence in God, we are confronted by a more spiritual aspect of the word. In such connection the term "confidence" takes on a more profound and definite meaning, for it involves spiritual understanding. As with Paul, it is incumbent upon us to know what we believe. Only by persistent prayer and self-abnegation can complete confidence in God be attained and an understanding be reached of man's true being as God's representative, reflecting dominion over all the earth. God is the Life of all; for, as Paul declares, "in him we live, and move, and have our being."

Christian Science demands the relinquishment of any claim to a selfhood apart from God. There are no varying degrees in divine laws; through we find immutable Truth expressed, the understanding of which can be gained only by loving consecration. In the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah we have the admonition to trust in God, and we have also the promise, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." True quietness calls for the silencing of human emotions in order that the voice of Truth may be heard.

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