Editorial October 16, 1995 Issue

Weapons of peace

Barbara M. Vining

In what can appear to be an increasingly violent world, people look for increasingly powerful weapons with which to defend themselves. To an alarming degree, individual citizens, including young people, arm themselves with handguns and high-powered rifles. And nations, large and small, invent and develop hideous weapons of mass destruction. Just recently The Christian Science Monitor reported: "Iraq has handed over documents to the UN detailing a sizable secret germ warfare program with a sophisticated delivery system" (August 23, 1995).

Man-made weapons, however, have never proved powerful enough to destroy the discordant human thoughts that lead to violence and to war; instead, their use has tended to reinforce and perpetuate such thoughts. So, we might ask ourselves the following questions, which Mary Baker Eddy posed for humanity's consideration in the Christian Science textbook: "Are material means the only refuge from fatal chances? Is there no divine permission to conquer discord of every kind with harmony, with Truth and Love?" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 394)

To "conquer discord ... with harmony, with Truth and Love" may sound like a novel idea. But isn't it God who produces true harmony and peace in man? And isn't God—Truth and Love—all-powerful? Yes! And that means that discord has no power over God, and therefore no rightful power over us. That surely gives us divine permission to conquer discord with harmony. The important question for us to ask ourselves may be, "Are we giving our consent to what God permits us to do?" The Apostle Paul counsels Christians in his letter to the Philippians: "In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (4:6, 7). And in his letter to the Colossians he says, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (3:15).