Article February 17, 1917 Issue

"Gashmu saith it"

GUSTAVUS S. PAINE

One of the many attempts to hinder Nehemiah in his great work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was an open letter to him in which was written, "It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king." In other words, general belief backed by accepted authority was trying to mesmerize the servant of God into doubting the rightness of his endeavors and believing a lie. All this energy, rumor argued, could not be honestly intended, nor could it really serve to prove that the hand of God was good upon the one so striving, but must be merely a reprehensible attack upon vested interests. After ridicule, scorn, indignation, wrath, conspiracy, and preparation for a secret onslaught had all failed to check the righteous and alert activity of Nehemiah, this, one of the subtlest weapons of the adversary, was directed against him; but instantly, instead of wondering if perhaps there might not be some truth in the accusation, some reason for self-reproach and for cessation of his trust in God, he saw the argument for what it was and continued fearlessly in his dependence on divine power.

Today, as in the time of Nehemiah, when one begins to turn wholly to God to work out what may seem a big problem, is it not frequently brought to one's attention that "they say," and Gashmu says it too, "that this really is an incurable disease;" or again that "Christian Science may be all right for some troubles, but certainly not in cases of this particular sort"? "And Gashmu saith it,"—but who is this modern Gashmu that we should meekly and unquestioningly accept him as authority? Just because Gashmu says it, must it necessarily be so? Even though medical investigation and experiment have never been able to find a cure for some disease which seems so real, may there not still be some law, some truth, which medical research from its very nature can neither discover nor comprehend? Christian Science emphatically declares that there is a law which is eternally operative, though the "wisdom of this world" knows it not.

When the Gashmu of today questions the sincerity and effectiveness of Christian Science practice, one needs to turn the more unreservedly to Principle in order to prove, like Nehemiah, that the work is indeed "wrought of our God," in conformity with His healing law, which nullifies all merely human hypotheses. In Science and Health (p. 341) we read, "The facts are so absolute and numerous in support of Christian Science, that misrepresentation and denunciation cannot overthrow it." Steadfastness in consenting to only the one demonstrable authority, no matter what rumor, material dogma, or empirical considerations may suggest, is a sure defense against discouragement or mesmerism of any sort.

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