He Keeps Them Alive in Famine

George Shaw Cook

The condition of drought, and consequent dearth, which seems to have persisted for some time in a certain area embracing parts of the United States and Canada may be due to what are termed natural causes, lack of moisture, and so forth. On the other hand, it may be in line with the prophetic words of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 96): "Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine. Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end,—until the final spiritualization of all things."

Whatever the explanation for the condition which appears to exist in the district mentioned, that area might, at present, well be described as "a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." Because of the deprivation and destitution which seem to prevail, both the Canadian Government and that of the United States have taken practical steps to relieve the dwellers in the affected districts. All right-thinking individuals, including those who are students of Christian Science, have great sympathy with these sufferers, but Christian Scientists will be able best to express that sympathy by persistently refusing to accept the material sense testimony as real. In the effort to reject the testimony of the senses regarding this unhappy situation, it will be helpful to know that man is not material and mortal, but spiritual and immortal, and that man is therefore not the victim of beliefs about weather or other material conditions. Man, spiritual man, has his being in divine Mind, and he is sustained and provided for by that Mind. In the realm of Mind, Spirit, there is no aridity, no failure, no loss, no impoverishment. In reality there is only the limitless abundance—the ever-present affluence—of divine Love.

Famine may seem to follow drought, but considered from a more metaphysical viewpoint, it is quite possible that the reverse may be true. The prophet Amos said, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." And in Proverbs we read, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." May it not be true, then, that when there appears to be lack, impoverishment, deprivation, it is sometimes due to the fact that nations or peoples are individually and collectively without sufficient spiritual vision?

The drought that prevailed at the time of Ahab, king of Israel, was due, according to the record in I Kings, to the idolatrous practices which he instituted, and which prevailed among the people. However, during that period the prophet Elijah was sustained because of his obedience to God and his reliance on Him as the source of supply. Furthermore, through faith and spiritual vision Elijah was able to foresee and foretell the end of the drought while yet there was no visible sign of relief, and to say, "There is a sound of abundance of rain." And the record continues, "It came to pass ... that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain."

Faith in the power of God, Spirit, and understanding of spiritual law are able, today, to destroy the belief that affliction and deprivation are natural and necessary; and it is possible for individuals who possess that understanding, even during times of general belief in drought and famine, to be sustained and provided for as was the prophet of old. Even in the midst of such difficult material conditions and apparently insurmountable obstacles, it is possible to prove, in spite of so-called meteorological laws and traditional beliefs concerning agricultural methods, that there can be an abundant crop. On page 520 of Science and Health, referring to the statement in Genesis that God made "every plant of the field before it was in the earth," Mrs. Eddy has said, "Here is the emphatic declaration that God creates all through Mind, not through matter,—that the plant grows, not because of seed or soil, but because growth is the eternal mandate of Mind."

Christian Scientists, although they may not be living in what sometimes has been referred to as "the dust bowl," can help those who are there by understandingly and faithfully declaring and knowing the truth as it is revealed in the Bible and in the works of their beloved Leader.

"Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed."

George Shaw Cook

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit