Article April 13, 1987 Issue

Serenity in an anxious world

The Christian Science Monitor

Today's challenges—both individual and universal—turn many to drugs, alcohol, and gambling for escape. Others seek relief through psychotherapy or hypnotism. But all too often these so-called palliatives can become addictive.

Is there no lasting remedy for stress and anxiety? Are we all destined simply to endure an accelerating pace of life and cope the best we can?

Perhaps we need to return to simpler ways of living and thinking. And to more Godlike ways. Christ Jesus demonstrated a way of living that enabled him to calm a turbulent sea when in a boat with his disciples. He simply said, "Peace, be still."^{Mark 4:39.} What gave Jesus such authority? Wasn't it the purity of his thought, expressed in an absolute conviction that the power of God, divine Love, is supreme over evil and that God governs His creation harmoniously? Yet Jesus did not claim authority to silence discord exclusively for himself. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,"^{John 14:27.} he said, and assured us that even in a troubled world we would find peace in him.