Article September 13, 1975 Issue

Our Response to Crisis

ROLF WITZCHE

When our usual methods fail to achieve desired results, frustration and fear often follow. In such a crisis it is well for us to consider what went wrong, keeping in mind that apparent disorders are not supported by God, divine Principle. Economic and social crises are indications of collective misconceptions of this divine Principle. Are we willing to learn the needed lesson?

Inflation, pollution, strikes, unemployment, crime, and widespread immorality point to the growing tendency to worship matter. Humanity's search for satisfaction, if turned toward matter, will be frustrating and may foster the notion that an even greater concentration of materialism will eventually satisfy. This escalation of the value placed on material objects is not surprisingly reflected in inflated prices. Crisis in economy and order is but the visible manifestation of a weakened grasp of true values; lasting stability can be achieved only when the inflation of error is displaced by growth in truth, born of a ripening trust in Love's care and an increasing appreciation of spiritual values.

Does the expression of infinite wisdom result in blunders condemning innocent victims to suffer? God is Love. We cannot suffer except for our own mistakes and omissions. Mrs. Eddy assures us, "The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the saint his own heaven by doing right."^{Science and Health, p. 266;}