Article January 23, 1943 Issue

The Alert

LINDEN E. JONES

Today, in various parts of the world, the alert is to be heard signaling the approach of enemy warplanes. Rightly interpreted, the sounding of the siren is not a call to be afraid. It is demand for that mental alertness which, being based upon a right understanding of rules, enables us instantly to cast aside fear and with complete confidence obey emergency regulations or perform allotted duties.

During these days when the air is filled with broadcasts telling of destructive warfare, the wise thinker recognizes the need for constant mental vigilance. In Article VIII, section 6, of the Manual of The Mother Church, entitled "Alertness to Duty," Mary Baker Eddy writes: "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged,— and justified or condemned."

Christian Science now sounds the spiritually mental alert for the whole world. This Science calls upon us for constant watchfulness to reject thoughts of fear, inferiority, hate, defeat, complacency, instability. It bids us guard our thoughts and be always ready to deny any suggestion that evil has reality or power. We can successfully do this when we understand the facts of Christian Science. For this Science reveals the omnipotence and omnipresence of God as divine Love, and the nature of the real man as wholly spiritual, as God's image or reflection, as the Bible teaches. We are practicing "alertness to duty," not when we are holding in thought a material selfhood, which, being the opposite of God's man, is not real, but when we are conscious of our spiritual selfhood, which, being ever in the likeness of God, is never within the confines of matter or mortal mind.

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