On page 362 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mary Baker Eddy writes, "We all must find shelter from the storm and tempest in the tabernacle of Spirit." Today one hears on all sides the need for protection and shelter; and the student of Christian Science knows that the only true shelter is a right state of consciousness, since that which is held in consciousness is expressed in one's experience.

The Christian Scientist has a supreme duty, therefore, to the community at this time of seeming danger, to preserve in his consciousness this sanctuary of Spirit, the realization of the allness of God and the nothingness of evil, in order to keep his thought clear from the aggressive mental suggestions of disaster and destruction. He knows that the most effective shelter is the consciousness of good's omnipotence and omnipresence. With this consciousness he is assured of protection wherever his duty may take him. To such a state of thought the fearful and the sorrowful will surely come for comfort, strength, and healing.

In Isaiah we read that "a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." And today there is abundant opportunity to fulfill this prophecy. There is no lack of opportunity for courage, persistence, and faithfulness in the Christian Scientist's work for mankind. It requires heroism to stand undismayed, many a time, before sense testimony, and to hold steadily to the allness of God under all circumstances. But the student who is willing to do this through good and evil report, is rewarded in spiritual growth and in an increasing sense of the reality of good and the consequent unreality of evil. He becomes less and less disturbed by the errors of personal sense, and more worthy of being a pillar in the temple of his God, infinite good, as described in the book of Revelation.

Crises do not make heroes or nobility. They only reveal where an individual has been habitually dwelling in thought. If a student of Christian Science has been faithful in the sunny hours of human experience to the spiritual facts of being, he will be more so than ever in times of difficulty and distress. St. Paul wrote that the quality of a man's work would be revealed as by fire: in other words, it would be tested by experience, and it would be revealed whether it was built on the rock of demonstration or on the stubble or straw of lip-service to Truth.

In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 276) our Leader writes: "In the dark hours, wise Christian Scientists stand firmer than ever in their allegiance to God. Wisdom is wedded to their love, and their hearts are not troubled." That they have found evil to be unreal in small ways is a proof to them that it is unreal in all of its ramifications, whether apparently great or small. And whilst they may not have reached the stage where they can make apparent the unreality of evil in what might be regarded as a spectacular manner, they nevertheless rejoice that it is unreal, even if they cannot at once change the evidence of the material senses. Each one can, however, make the demonstration of peace within his own consciousness, which must ultimate in universal peace.

The essence of the Master's teaching may be summed up in the words, "Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." And to keep consciousness free from sin and fear and doubt, hatred and materiality, is a most important work for the student of Christian Science. We have a world within our consciousness over which Christian Science gives us complete dominion, for that world consists of the thoughts we habitually entertain. If others are cherishing a sense of enmity towards what appears to be a common foe, we can maintain the fact of universal Love that separates error from personality, and sees it as impersonal and unreal. While our human experience is made up of our concept of the world, all the time infinite Mind has a perfect concept of us all. Can we not share God's concept of His universe, thus having our thought His thought of it?

Since there is in reality only one infinite Mind, one infinite consciousness, there can be only one correct concept of anything and everything. We can refuse to have any but God's concept; and then we can rejoice in the true view, even while mortal mind appears to be thrusting its false concepts upon us. The Bible says, "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." And can we not decree that fact for our own consciousness, determined not to entertain a single destructive thought, not to accord to evil either power or presence? We must provide a mountaintop of thought ready for those who are engulfed in a belief in evil as real, to flee to. As Mrs. Eddy writes in "No and Yes" (p. 7), "They will 'flee as a bird to your mountain,' away from the enemy of sinning sense, stubborn will, and every imperfection in the land of Sodom, and find rescue and refuge in Truth and Love."

The Christian Scientist's supreme duty to the community at all times is to keep spiritual sense alive in human consciousness. And spiritual sense is in its infancy with us all, needing constant cherishing and shelter from the intrusions of material sense. The mesmerism of human interests is insistent, and the call of things of Spirit requires careful attention on our part, lest in the clamor of human demands we render ourselves unable to hear it. The Psalmist must have known this, for he wrote, "Be still, and know that I am God."

When material sense is clamoring its loudest, then is the moment to pause and adopt an attitude of listening for the guidance of divine Mind in our affairs. Mortal mind would rush ahead on impulse, while the God-guided are apt to think twice before acting, and to consider in what way they can best serve their country or their community. Those who have reached the place where their whole time is given to healing the sick through the understanding of Christian Science, are in no doubt of the best way in which they can do their part to promote the well-being of the human race; they know that in this day and age the Christian Scientist is called upon to be "the light of the world" and "the salt of the earth."