In the affairs of daily living we are confronted with the testimony of material sense. Unfortunately much of this testimony is accepted as true evidence relative to health, harmony, happiness, and general well-being, when in fact it falls far short of being true or of exhibiting the truth about man. It is of the utmost importance that we admit only the facts or truth about ourselves, and this admission should be made and maintained, regardless of material sense testimony.

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy, declares in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 471). "The facts of divine Science should be admitted,—although the evidence as to these facts is not supported by evil, by matter, or by material sense,—because the evidence that God and man coexist is fully sustained by spiritual sense." In the light of this truth it becomes apparent that, whatever the conditions appear to be, that which is created and controlled by Spirit, revealed and sustained by spiritual sense, is the actual fact, while that which is not so created, controlled, and sustained is never a fact, but is a falsity, an illusion of material sense.

Suppose a case is being tried in court and one of the witnesses gives false testimony, makes statements that are untrue, and this error is discerned by the counsel; the latter will immediately object to having these statements go into the record. It is then the privilege of the judge to sustain the objection and rule the testimony unworthy of being incorporated into the court record. Likewise it is the priceless privilege of everyone to discern the truth or the falsity of the thoughts, words, and acts with which he comes in contact in daily living, and to hold to the genuine, good, and enduring and discard all that is false, evil, and unworthy.

Throughout human history no one was ever found to be more adept or faithful in discerning and sustaining the evidence of spiritual facts than was Christ Jesus. In the midst of aggressive mortal sense testimony, clamoring for recognition and acceptance, he was unfailingly aware of the truth of being, and this spiritual consciousness enabled him instantly to detect and reject whatever was untrue, unworthy, and illusive, as well as to bring into immediate manifestation the realities of true being.

It is recorded in the fifth chapter of Mark that a ruler of the synagogue, named Jairus, came to Jesus requesting healing for his little daughter. Notwithstanding the fact that messengers from the ruler's house brought news of the decease of the child, Jesus was unperturbed and spoke these comforting words to Jairus: "Be not afraid, only believe." Upon entering the home, the Master declared that the child was not dead, but was asleep, and this declaration was met with laughter and scorn. Knowing that there is but one Life, and that Life is God, eternal, perfect, and ever present, and that material sense testimony, however insistent it might be, could not change an eternal fact, Jesus quickly discerned the actual evidence in the case. Taking her by the hand, be said, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." The result was a complete overcoming of death, sorrow, doubt, and fear, and the child was restored to her parents whole and free.

Today, perhaps as never before, there are thrust upon the attention of mankind the tempestuous ravages of war, and if the testimony of material sense should be accepted as true, one might conclude that Christianity, civilization, and human rights were on the verge of extinction. However, when the consciousness of any individual is imbued with spiritual understanding, liberated from fear, and allowed to reason correctly— all of which Christian Science makes possible—the sustained evidence of actual truth appears and can be apprehended. Christ Jesus, the Way-shower for all men, foretold the coming of wars, turmoil, struggle, and strife among nations and kingdoms, but he told his hearers not to be troubled. Because he understood the relationship forever existing between God and man, he was not dismayed. Further, he taught and demonstrated man's dominion over evil. "As many as do receive a knowledge of God through Science," declares Mrs. Eddy, "will have power to reflect His power, in proof of man's 'dominion over all the earth'" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 183).

One of the characteristics of evil is boastfulness—its claim to be superior to Truth. But evil, a lie, can bring about only its own destruction by this boasting. All of good is eternal, even though it may be for a season obscured by the clouds of false testimony. Perceiving this truth, the Psalmist declared: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea. I sought him but he could not be found."

Regardless of the seeming nature and severity of evil's pretensions regardless of what is involved in any problem, whether medical theories, persons or personalities climatic conditions, unfavorable localities, hereditary laws, or the beliefs of age, the only actual evidence in the case is the truth of being. What God made, what God knows, constitutes reality. All else is false testimony of material sense, and is utterly unreal.

Christian Science is encouraging those who rely upon it hourly to exercise their God-given right to detect, reject, and eject every vestige of erroneous sense testimony and its effects in human consciousness, and to recognize, accept, and retain the sustained evidence of the ever-presence of good, of divine Mind, made manifest in ways and forms applicable to the needs of mankind.

The ever-present power of God is sufficient to sustain, guard, and guide the men and nations intelligently relying upon Him, even in the midst of turmoil and war. God's inexhaustible store of good is adequate to supply all the legitimate needs of men. The beneficent law of Love, which is always enforced by divine Mind, is capable of liberating mankind from every phase of lawlessness. The one infinite Life, eternal, self-existent, and forever expressed by man, is the efficient means for overcoming death, sorrow, and sin. Heaven is attainable by everyone, and this desirable state of harmony will be experienced as the testimony of material sense is silenced and rejected and the evidence of spiritual sense accepted as the actual fact in every case.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 353): "The Christianly scientific real is the sensuous unreal. Sin, disease, whatever seems real to material sense, is unreal in divine Science. The physical senses and Science have ever been antagonistic, and they will so continue, till the testimony of the physical senses yields entirely to Christian Science." And she asks and answers her own question in the following passage (ibid.): "How can a Christian, having the stronger evidence of Truth which contradicts the evidence of error, think of the latter as real or true, either in the form of sickness or of sin? All must admit that Christ is 'the way, the truth, and the life,' and that omnipotent Truth certainly does destroy error."

Copyright, 1943, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Street, Boston 15, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918. Published every Saturday.