Article August 2, 1941 Issue

"Shut the door"

GLADYS CLARA MC CLEERY

The story of the Shunammite woman related in the second book of Kings is a narrative dear to the heart of Christian Scientists the world over. Its portrayal of the circumstances under which a son, an only child, was born to this woman, was later apparently lost to her through death, and finally restored to her in fullness of life, strikes a chord whose notes vibrate with mingled joy, compassion, and exaltation. We do not read of any yielding to grief, self-pity, bitterness, or despair on her part. We are told that she laid the child upon the bed of Elisha, "an holy man of God;" and that upon leaving the room she "shut the door."

Surely the closing of the door was not without its significance. Was not this simple deed symbolical of the bereaved mother's shutting the door of her consciousness upon the gripping sense of fear, loneliness, sorrow, loss, and separation which would attempt to overwhelm her? In so doing, was she not opening the door of her thought to the glorious realization that the child, in its true being, as the image and likeness of God, expressed eternal life? Mary Baker Eddy, on page 90 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," writes: "The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea. This conviction shuts the door on death, and opens it wide towards immortality." When the Shunammite woman shut the door on the appearance of death, she was taking another of the steps which led to the restoration of her child to life and health.

Are we today who are being called upon to send away loved ones to take their places in the present world conflict, giving them our wholehearted and unselfish support by shutting out the cruel and haunting suggestions of separation, fear, anxiety, doubt, dismay? Are we helping them by holding the door of our consciousness open to the glorious fact of man's immortality and indestructibility? This great verity, persistently held to, will afford divine protection to those exposed to the seemingly perilous conditions of war. The truth of man's indestructibility is so potent that, when steadfastly adhered to, it will prove a sure defense against what appear to be the destructive forces evolved by mortal mind today.

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