Article July 2, 1966 Issue

God on the Battlefield

MARGARET C. DEAN

"Whither shall I go from thy spirit?" sang the Psalmist, "or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." ^{Ps. 139:7-10;} That this Biblical assurance is completely practical in modern times was vividly proved in the experience of a young man serving in the United States Army in the Korean War.

This serviceman knew of the teachings of Christian Science through his wife, who was an earnest student, so that when he was drafted into the Army, he turned to its truths for help in making the necessary adjustments. He then began to experience the blessings which always come from reliance upon God.

When he was first sent into combat, he found himself almost overwhelmed by the disaster he was seeing on every hand. For three days he was under intense artillery barrage. In one particularly violent operation which involved hand-to-hand fighting, he saw a fellow soldier hit in the face by the effects of a white phosphorus grenade and carried off on a stretcher. In desperation the serviceman wrote to a Christian Science practitioner that he simply could not face the possibility that he would ever again have to perform violence against another human being.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

The Fighting Man's Conscience and Duty