Editorial March 13, 1976 Issue

Out of the Doldrums

Peter J. Henniker-Heaton

A section of equatorial ocean well known in the days of sailing ships was called the doldrums. It was noted for sudden squalls, light winds that unpredictably veered and backed, and long calms. The last feature most impressed general thought. It has made the doldrums a symbol for listless boredom.

In Spirit, in the wholly spiritual universe it creates, there are no doldrums, no seasons of forced immobility, of world-weariness and tedium. Stated by itself, this is only a negative fact; but it's a beginning. As the positive spiritual truths behind it are understood and taken as a guide for action, they become a mighty power in our lives. They open our hearts to the wonder and interest all around us. They get us off dead center and under way.

The disciples of Christ Jesus saw him quell a storm with a brief command. They exclaimed in awe, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!"^{Matt. 8:27;} What manner of man was he? In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, against the marginal heading "Spiritual power," Mary Baker Eddy gives an important part of the answer. She writes, "The notion that animal natures can possibly give force to character is too absurd for consideration, when we remember that through spiritual ascendency our Lord and Master healed the sick, raised the dead, and commanded even the winds and waves to obey him."^{Science and Health, p. 67;}