Editorial August 9, 1982 Issue

Moved by love, not fear

BEULAH M. ROEGGE

"Be careful but don't be cautious," our friend called out. We maneuvered the difficult terrain carefully—not tensely—and safely. But those words kept forming questions: How can we always move with carefulness, not inhibited by caution nor goaded by fearful desire? And an allied query, What role does desire, certainly a motivating force, legitimately have?

Both words, "desire" and "caution," are found in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy under the metaphysical interpretation of the term "fear" (referring, obviously, to negative uses of that word in the Bible, not to true reverence for God). The Glossary definition reads: "Fear. Heat; inflammation; anxiety; ignorance; error; desire; caution."^{ Science and Health, p. 586.} All these are elements of thought and feeling that we want to be rid of. In the light of Christian Science, we recognize each to be a counterfeit of legitimate elements of Christly consciousness. Fearful caution would counterfeit carefulness, and feverish desire would attempt to replace the wonderful desire for spiritual good that is an essential element of prayer. But, as the writer of I John assures us: "God is love," and "There is no fear in love."^{I John 4: 16, 18.}

Removing our desires from the influence of fear, and letting them be the desire that is prayer, we find that what we really want, regardless of the situation, is not to be moved from expressing love. Holding fast to that desire—refusing to capitulate cynically to an expedient that is far short of love or to settle for a sham affection— we can expect such desire to be shaped and fulfilled in every instance by divine Love itself. We read in Science and Health, "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds."^{ Science and Health, p. 1.}

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