Article June 15, 1940 Issue

"And the prisoners heard them"

DOROTHY M. GIBSON

In the sixteenth chapter of Acts we read: "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed."

Paul and Silas, singing praises in the gloomy prison, knowing well the powerlessness of evil to hold man captive, demonstrated the availability of divine help in what seemed a desperate situation. It was in the midnight hour that they prayed and sang praises. To those prisoners in the darkness beside them, it must have been a startling experience. Would they not question among themselves: "Why do these men rejoice? Are we not all in the depths of despair? Who knows what the morrow will bring?" Ah, but the radiance of the two stanch Christians was greater than the darkness of the prison, greater than the chains that bound them, and immeasurably greater than the hatred which had thrust them into prison. It was the healing presence of the Christ that shone in their consciousness, in the face of which no form of captivity can stand. Doubtless, there could scarcely have been a fellow prisoner in that dark night who was not shaken in some degree from his lethargy; and we read that the keeper of the prison and his entire household turned to the teachings of Christianity.

Let us never forget what our efforts as Christian Scientists mean to present-day prisoners of ignorant mortal belief. What if a dismal picture of danger and sorrow seems to prevail in the world today? Could darkness and imprisonment separate Paul and Silas from God's help? Divine Love is so near to every one of His children! Though the situation presented by error would seem black indeed, may we not turn the more resolutely to the eternal source of light? There is no permanent help in mere material planning, no satisfying happiness without spirituality, no abiding security in life without God; and we who have learned these truths must live them until all those who need them awaken to the great fact that our heavenly Father still governs, and that it is but necessary to turn to Him with understanding.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Making Right Decisions