Article May 2, 1988 Issue

We don't have to be afraid

Afraid? Understanding man's spiritual sonship with God, and feeling that sonship, are the key to overcoming fear.

Jan Johnston

In the Christian Science Hymnal there is a beautiful hymn that begins, "In Love divine all earth-born fear and sorrow/Fade as the dark when dawn pours forth her light."^{Hymn No. 149.}

Though the rest of the hymn is a wonderful reminder of God's loving care, these first two lines have a healing message for anyone who may be bound by fear. They tell us that all forms of fear, from mild nervousness to gripping panic attacks that sweep in unexplained, have the same nature and source— they are earthborn, earthly, not God-sent.

This means, primarily, that fear is based in material thinking—in thinking or believing that man is a material creature governed by material forces and laws and left to the mercy (or lack of mercy) of these same so-called forces and laws. The remedy for materially based fear, then, is to gain a genuine, concrete sense of what man really is—the spiritual son of God, living and moving within the harmonious realm of Spirit and governed by the divine Mind's just and loving spiritual law.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

We don't have to be afraid

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access