There is a sustaining energy in goodness which, understood and intelligently utilized, will prosper and safeguard any individual or any nation. In the vacuity of evil and the all-pervading presence of good lies the hope of mankind. This dictum presents scientific idealism, having its foundation and practice in the Golden Rule and in the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before Principle.

Idealism, workable and dependable, insists that God is Principle, that His man moves in accord with Principle, that His universe is upheld and directed by Principle. In this program evil and mortality have no place or possibility. For Principle, as properly employed, is vastly more than law, inanimate and unintelligent. It is identical with divine Mind, Life, Love. It is the Supreme Being, the Being which constitutes the substance of man, investing him with diseaseless and continuous and limitless existence, with capacity for enjoyment and satisfaction. Here is the truth which, unreservedly and consistently acknowledged, makes for health, character, usefulness, security—the healing of the nations.

He who practices any science successfully or effectively must familiarize himself with its rules and demands. Just as certainly must he comply with them. To qualify himself as a mature idealist, equipped to face the problems of human existence, one must school himself in faithful effort and consecration. A superficial appreciation of perfect God and perfect man, in other words an immature idealism, implicitly relied upon in this crude world of appearances, is fraught with disappointment and disaster. Pope is right: "A little learning is a dangerous thing."

True, evil is no more than an arrogant pretender, but pretenders and pretensions must be detected and resolutely coped with if their mischievous devices are to be circumvented. How shall this be done? Through the timely realization of their impotence. Integrity is impregnable. Principle is a jealous God, who tolerates no chicanery or trickery. Know this, and thereby put justice in operation. Ignoring evil, on the glib assumption that it is nonexistent, is academic; and this in public as well as in private affairs.

Writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 6 of "Christian Science versus Pantheism": "Let us continue to denounce evil as the illusive claim that God is not supreme, and continue to fight it until it disappears,—but not as one that beateth the mist, but lifteth his head above it and putteth his foot upon a lie."

Many a righteous nation, trusting that its piratical neighbor will do no harm, has suffered spoliation. Standing idly by, miserably mesmerized, while other nations are being overrun, the guileless nation muses, "This cannot come to us." Its lofty but unproved ideals do not warrant a nation in throwing to the winds the experience of the ages. The teachings of history will not be ignored by any wise and alert people.

What an exhibition of simplicity have the peaceful nations of the past quarter of a century afforded! Despite their much-heralded cleverness, they have thought to dismantle navies and disband armies, and this while their unscrupulous neighbors were arming to the teeth and boasting of their purpose to subdue the earth. Love of peace will not safeguard a nation. Nor will hatred of war. Appeasement invites encroachment. As for isolation, there can be none on this "fretful midge."

Hezekiah, whose name is legion in modern times, furnishes the classic example of the guileless ruler. He had been sick at his palace in Jerusalem. The king of Babylon, hearing of his affliction, sent messengers with presents. Hezekiah, pleased with their attentions, showed them "the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not." Presently the armies of Babylon thundered at the gates of the holy city. They seized the gold and silver and deported the people. Thus came to an end the national life of the Hebrews.

Innocence alone will not save an individual. He must make an intelligent appeal to the Almighty and invoke the might of Principle in order to maintain his security. More than this, he may have to supplement his idealism, in its early stages, with practical methods. What is true of a single individual is true of aggregations of individuals. Once there was war even in heaven, so it is written. Michael fought and his angels against the dragon and his angels, and hurled them over the ramparts to the earth below.

Nation after nation, in times gone by, has come to grief through the credulity of its statesmen and their hesitation to challenge, in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the atrocious designs of conscienceless neighbors. A score of nations today are prostrate, because they did not smite aggression in its inception and prevent its reaching towering proportions. Had they followed Michael's example in checking the revolt of the angels, they might have maintained their status as free men. There is nothing in Christian ethics or idealism which forbids an individual or a nation taking practical account of impending dangers.

Yet this moment vast numbers, lulled by shallow optimism, are still inactive and half awake. No man or church, acquainted with the power of prayer, should fail to bend thought, regularly and even ceaselessly, in fervent insistence that God is in the midst of the righteous nations imparting vision, strategy, unity, and that faith which moves mountains, while confusion attends the course of those who have precipitated war without cause.

The time approaches when the present world conflagration will be extinguished. The glorious day will be speeded through the consecrated prayers of those who appreciate the invincibility of Principle and the inanity of every unprincipled thought and venture. That those responsible for the lamentable conflict will be vanquished is inevitable. The idealistic nations, whose existence has been threatened, may have lacked foresight and initiative on occasion; but it will be everlastingly to their credit that never for a moment has defeat occurred to them. It is one of the unthinkables.

Hence already are the United Nations working out a practical method for maintaining peace once it has been earned. Every Christian Scientist is confident that Mind will direct; and men who have passed through the awful ordeal will have the humility and willingness to accept divine guidance. There will be no nonsense, no gushing sympathy, around the conference table. Forgiveness is possible only after repentance and restitution. Willful wrongdoers must submit to the demands of justice. Had they been sternly dealt with at the close of the first world conflict, and the League for the prevention of war been subscribed to by every powerful nation, the present catastrophe would have been averted. Illusions have run their course. It is hardly conceivable that a guileless individual exists today, or a guileless nation. Nor is it conceivable that men will suppose they can build lasting security on any other foundation than the Golden Rule. Only "he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

Peter V. Ross