Article June 22, 1935 Issue

Reliance on God

LOUISE RAVENS

In endeavoring to free himself from the illusion of life and intelligence in matter, the student of Christian Science is often unnecessarily retarded in his progress because he continues to rely on or fear this illusion. Perchance he has been healed of a physical discord through Christian Science, but, on being again beset by some inharmonious condition, he accepts the argument that divine Science is not equal to the particular exigency, or that the difficulty may be more quickly met by some other means. Or, through being off guard, he may entertain any other means. Or, countless suggestions which present themselves. And even though he should appear to be successful in accomplishing his release from some malady through belief in material means, he has lost ground in so doing, for he has sacrificed, temporarily at least, his confidence in the power of God, and thereby has weakened, through lack of true reliance, the understanding of Truth which he had attained.

Calling on material means to extricate one from a troublesome situation comes somewhat from keeping thought focused on the difficulty, and so becoming more and more entangled in its suggested intricacies. Instead, we should lift thought above it to the allness of God, good. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 355) Mrs. Eddy says, "To strike out right and left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift your head above it, is a sovereign panacea."

When Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, he gained his victory not through fearsome contemplation of the beasts, but through his steadfast faith in God, his abiding confidence in the all-presence and all-power of divine Love. This faith was not blind belief; it must have been a clear and exalted perception of the truth, such as when, in a later experience, there appeared unto him "by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel," a radiant vision of spiritual reality. And again, though the Master rebuked with the spoken word the tempestuous surging of the waves, it was his calm reliance on the omnipotence of Spirit which gave him his superb command over the raging elements.

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