Editorial September 7, 1935 Issue

"Not according to the appearance"

George Shaw Cook

Why are birds afraid of a harmless scarecrow? Because they are deceived by its appearance into believing that it is a person, capable of injuring them, instead of a harmless effigy.

Why are mortals frequently deprived of health, happiness, and success by mental "scarecrows" devised by mortal mind for their discomfiture? Because of their ignorant belief that these false mental pictures of disease, deprivation, disaster, and death are real. If men were able always to detect the spurious nature of these mental images held before their thought by mortal mind, they would not be deceived by them and would not be afraid of them.

Mary Baker Eddy writes, on page 411 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "The procuring cause and foundation of all sickness is fear, ignorance, or sin." And students of Christian Science are learning that fear and sin are often, if not always, the result of ignorance. It is ignorant belief in the reality of disease and death that makes mortals fear these evils. If these beliefs of mortal mind were seen as illusions, they would no longer be feared, and if they were not feared, they would be found powerless to harm. Belief in the reality of error and fear of its asserted power give it a foothold in human consciousness. Understanding of the divine fact that Truth is infinite, omnipresent, and omnipotent, displaces and destroys the belief that error has either presence or power.

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