Several months ago, I was at a Christian Science camp in Australia and went for a walk around the grounds. I had been thinking about a song called “David and Goliath” written by Susan Booth Mack Snipes and wanted to take some time to consider its message.

The song presents the Bible story of David and Goliath (see I Samuel 17:20–49) as an analogy. The lie that we are material beings may seem significant—even Goliath-sized. This lie may seem to influence us to come down to its level to fight, but the Bible shows us that you and I are really expressions of God and therefore spiritual, not material. Therefore, we cannot come down to a matter-based level, because the spiritual and material are opposites that never meet, as explained in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. To me, the stone that David flung at Goliath with his sling represents the truth of spiritual being, which directly voids the lie about life being material. When this truth struck the lie, the lie naturally fell “to the earth” without fanfare. 

Later that day, an aboriginal elder took us on a tour, describing the area’s flora and fauna. He warned us to beware of stepping on the nests of large biting ants that dotted the route, and said that bites from these ants could result in hospitalization. Concerned for the safety of the younger children in the group, I helped guide them around the nests. But while doing this, I inadvertently stood on a nest I hadn’t seen, and my foot was quickly covered in ants.