Article February 3, 1945 Issue

Overcoming Circumstance

STANLEY T. VAILL

When Moses stretched forth his hand over the Red Sea and its waters divided, he was obeying divine direction. Joshua must have experienced the same deep spiritual inspiration when he commanded the sun and moon to stand still. Elijah's keen spiritual perception saw only infinite supply instead of the widow's "handful of meal ... and a little oil in a cruse," and "the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail" (I Kings 17:12,16).

Examples of such power over circumstance and physical laws were not limited to the older prophets only. Jesus gave many remarkable demonstrations of a spiritual understanding which set aside natural laws, as when he made the water wine at Cana, fed the five thousand, instructed Peter to get the tribute money in the fish's mouth, rebuked the wind and wave, was present with his disciples "the doors being shut" (John 20:26). On one occasion the ship in which he sailed, we are told, was "immediately ... at the land whither they went" (John 6:21).

Mary Baker Eddy has set down for our benefit and use a positive statement of the scientific Principle which based these demonstrations of the prophets, and of Jesus and his followers. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," she writes (p. 269): "Metaphysics is above physics, and matter does not enter into metaphysical premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind. Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul. These ideas are perfectly real and tangible to spiritual consciousness, and they have this advantage over the objects and thoughts of material sense.—they are good and eternal."

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