A STUDENT of Christian Science once dreamt that she was lost in a foreign country, and entirely without funds. In the dream she was greatly perturbed at her predicament, until she remembered a friend whose kindness she had tested many times. The thought of the large sum of money she would require to return home rather dismayed her, but remembering the loving character of this friend, she felt certain that the necessary funds would be forwarded. Thinking thus she felt comforted—and awoke!

Now, though material happenings can never bear exact comparison with spiritual truths, the student pondered somewhat over this dream, endeavoring to discover why she was tempted at times to doubt the willingness and ability of God, the all-loving Father, to come to her assistance in the dream of human existence, whereas the thought of a friend's kindness immediately comforted her in this night dream!

The student finally discovered where her difficulty lay. In the night-dream, she still thought of her friend as one near and available, whereas in the day-dream, error was, in belief, constantly tempting her to think of herself as separated from God, thus making her doubt the nearness and availability of the one omnipresent Mind, "the All-in-all, forever near" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 596).

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science has enlightened and comforted an unnumbered multitude of weary and fear-filled people by discovering the great truth that man is never separated from his Maker and the subsequent fact that man is safe and eternally separated from everything unlike God. It is necessary, however, before we can avail ourselves of this truth and demonstrate its power to dispel our fears, and consequently our cares and sicknesses, that we possess a clear, positive understanding of both God and man.

On page 336 of Science and Health our Leader writes, "God, the divine Principle of man, and man in God's likeness are inseparable, harmonious, and eternal." And farther down on the same page we read, "God is the parent Mind, and man is God's spiritual offspring." Therefore, if we are ever tempted to question the power of God to take care of us under every circumstance, it would be wise carefully to scrutinize our thought as regards what we understand to be the nature of God. We may possibly discover that we are still harboring a concept of God as some far-off being, entirely separated from man. If this be the case, we shall certainly find it difficult to trust such a false concept of God, for such a being could be neither omnipresent nor omnipotent! But let us take courage! Such a concept is wholly illusory, for it directly contradicts both our revered Leader's declaration that God is Mind, the all-loving and ever-present Father, and those comforting, assuring words we all know so well: "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."

Also, fully to understand the teaching of Christian Science that man is inseparable from his Maker, we must always clearly remember that the "man" here referred to is not the discordant material picture of man, presented by the senses, but the real, spiritual man, made in the image and likeness of God, as the Bible declares. We read (ibid., p. 563), "The great red dragon symbolizes a lie,—the belief that substance, life, and intelligence can be material." In this connection it is very illuminating to read the various definitions of the words "Red Dragon," as given in the chapter entitled "Glossary" (ibid., p. 593), one of which is "animal magnetism." It is error, animal magnetism, that, in belief, is perpetually arguing to us that life and substance are material, and that, therefore, we are not the upright spiritual children of the one perfect Father, but weak and sinful mortals. The battle against this lie, whether waged for ourselves or for others, is already half won if we will remember that we are not called to remake ourselves or others, for God has already created all and pronounced it good. Our work is firmly and courageously to deny those false mental pictures which animal magnetism constantly presents for our acceptance, and to declare the truth that we are now, and eternally have been, perfect and immortal. Faced by Truth, persistence, and moral courage, error is finally silenced.

Animal magnetism may try to persuade us that while this is undoubtedly true, yet we are different from other people; we seem so lacking in faith and spiritual understanding that it appears impossible for us to grasp and demonstrate these vital, curative facts. If such arguments assert themselves, then let us turn in childlike confidence to the Father, even as a little child, knowing, in his ignorance, no way out of some childish difficulty, will turn in utter confidence to his father, certain of his ability to solve every problem.

If we will turn to the Father in humble, childlike trust, knowing that Love never withholds any good from His children, we will awaken to realize that we too have been endowed from all eternity with the goodness, wisdom, faith, and every holy quality necessary wherewith to combat the fears that seemingly stand between mortals and a full, happy recognition of the Father's ever-presence and love. For, did not Christ Jesus say, "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him"?

Who has not seen, at the close of a long day spent in the country, a little child carried home in his father's arms? To the tired babe, the pleasant stream he played in at noontide may appear as a roaring torrent, a friendly dog may take on the appearance of a fierce animal, and the quiet evening shadows may assume alarming and unnatural forms. But, once lifted into his father's arms, he fears no more, and rests content. How different would the situation have been, if, instead of lying quietly, the child had tossed about, terrified in case they could not cross that stream or get safely past those dangerous shadows! With thoughts such as these, the journey home would have been filled with childish distress. Yet there was nothing to harm him, nothing to fear!

One of the most comforting and inspiring statements, iterated and reiterated throughout our Leader's writings, is that man coexists with God. This being the case, how can we be the material, sickly beings that error would make us believe we are? Can anything harm us? Can the illusions of hate and fear, even though they may seem to culminate in what men call war, ever enter the sweet haven of His presence, where in reality all men dwell in safety, eternally at peace with each other? Let us cease peering anxiously into the changing shadows of material existence, for they cannot touch us, since we are eternally carried in the "everlasting arms of Love."

"He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Copyright, 1939, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.