As the debate on ratification of SALT II enters its final stage in the United States Senate, there is an upsurge of suspicion on both sides of the great-power divide that one party may be trying to outmaneuver or gain unfair advantage over the other. While supporters of the agreement in the United States see it as a positive step, some sincere opponents of the treaty argue that the present draft is careless of the United States' ultimate national security.

There has been alarm over the reported presence of a Soviet combat brigade in Cuba and troop reinforcements on islands off Japan. The Soviet Union is campaigning to thwart the deployment of new nuclear missiles in Western Europe.

These developments give edge to the threat of nuclear war—a danger with which the planet has now managed to live for decades. Many individuals may feel helpless and are resigned to living with the danger. But they need not be. There is something an individual can do to dispel fear, to advance security, to replace the threat of war with the prospect of peace—to bring human government closer to the divine pattern. He or she can prayerfully realize that God's government is in fact already established. The spiritual discernment and living of this inalterable fact will be reflected in human experience.

No individual effort in that direction is ever wasted. Indeed, in Ecclesiastes we have an encouraging example: "There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man." ^{Eccl. 9:14, 15;}

That all-saving wisdom doesn't need to be forgotten today as it apparently was all those centuries ago. Wisdom comes from the scientific understanding of God and His government, understanding that is available through Christian Science.

What lies at the root of all war and strife? The acceptance of the existence of many minds in conflict. Are not wars instigated and fed by fear, greed, suspicion, deceit—by whatever would seek to assert tyranny and trample individual or national rights? All these are inventions of the carnal mind—mortal mind, as Mrs. Eddy calls it—in defiance of the allness of God, Spirit.

She writes: "The law of God is the law of Spirit, a moral and spiritual force of immortal and divine Mind. The so-called law of matter is an immoral force of erring mortal mind, alias the minds of mortals. This so-called force, or law, at work in nature as a power, prohibition, or license, is cruel and merciless. It punishes the innocent, and repays our best deeds with sacrifice and suffering." And she continues later, "It fosters suspicion where confidence is due, fear where courage is requisite, reliance where there should be avoidance, a belief in safety where there is most danger." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 257;}

What people yearn for today is indeed confidence, reliance, and safety—among men and among nations. They are to be found by recognizing the one and only true good, God. In proportion to our discernment of Him as the only Mind, of His nature as the underlying Principle of all things—and of man as the idea of that Mind expressed in all its perfection—will we find safety. In parallel proportion will fear be removed, deception uncovered, and the wisest course become clear when vital human decisions have to be taken.

In this light, we understand better why Mrs. Eddy writes unequivocally: "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,—whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed." ^{Science and Health, p. 340.}

It may be premature to interpret this clarion call as the signal for unilateral disarmament in the face of human tyranny of one form or another. But it is most certainly a clarion call to prayer and to the acknowledgment in individual consciousness of God's allness and omnipotence.