TODAY there is thrust upon the attention of mankind the spectacle of the greatest struggle for material superiority and power ever waged in this world. Men, money, and human ingenuity are being utilized to the utmost, in order that supremacy over what is termed the enemy may be achieved and the conflict ended. The children of men have a right to look for the end of human warfare, and to envision the day when universal peace shall bless all nations and all peoples, for the Scriptures definitely declare that "as the waters cover the sea," so shall the knowledge of God, His glory, dominion, power, and peace, fill the whole earth.

The experience of mortals presents another, seemingly agelong, struggle for superiority over what have been erroneously termed inevitable evils. These evils—sin, sickness, and death—are considered by a majority of mankind to be stern realities, and by a large number of individuals they are believed to have deific sanction. In the human struggle for victory over evil, it is comforting and encouraging to know that a loving God, wholly good, never made evil, and does not sanction it in any way. The prophet Habakkuk has written: "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. . . . Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity."

Mary Baker Eddy gave to the world her great discovery, Christian Science, which sounds, with positive and unmistakable tone, the death-knell to all the errors of belief, and to all the ills which seem to be the inheritance of human existence. Through an understanding of the truth of being, which Christian Science reveals, unnumbered cases of sickness have been healed; the grave has been robbed of victory; erstwhile sinners have abandoned wrongdoing with its sorrows, and are now leading lives of purity, peace, and righteousness. The sting of poverty has been removed, the clouds of gloom and the weight of grief have been dissipated, the degradation resulting from false appetites has been overcome, setting men free from enslaving beliefs, and restoring harmony in families where discord threatened to bring about separation and divorce. All these and many more glorious achievements are positive proofs that the power of God, as taught and demonstrated in Christian Science, enables one to maintain spiritual superiority over the evils of daily experience.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy states, on page 231: "To hold yourself superior to sin, because God made you superior to it and governs man, is true wisdom. To fear sin is to misunderstand the power of Love and the divine Science of being in man's relation to God,—to doubt His government and distrust His omnipotent care. To hold yourself superior to sickness and death is equally wise, and is in accordance with divine Science. To fear them is impossible, when you fully apprehend God and know that they are no part of His creation."

How comforting it is to realize that God made man wholly spiritual! And when this momentous fact is understood, no one need feel that certain circumstances and conditions might arise where avoidance of sin would be impossible. With the infinite God, good, all things are possible. Sometimes aggressive suggestions of the carnal mind, if listened to, would lead the unwary into committal of wrong deeds or sinful practices under the guise of expediency. An interesting example recorded in I Samuel is the story of David's compassionate treatment of Saul, whom he found sleeping in a cave. Instead of killing his enemy, David cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, but wholly disregarded the suggestion of his own companions to harm Saul. Under the circumstances, one less spiritually-minded might have felt that it was expedient for David to slay Saul; but holding himself superior to sin, David heeded not the suggestion of error. He was actuated by love, guided by divine Principle, with the result that a reconciliation was effected and harmony restored between them.

Sometimes the statement is made that someone is too honest for his own good. In business transactions a certain amount of unfairness, sharp business practice, or slight dishonesty is considered by some men as necessary, and perhaps indispensable to success. This false theory or belief is entirely unsound, for any seeming gain achieved by wrongdoing sooner or later will be found to be a loss, and in the end unsatisfactory. When Judas first received the thirty pieces of silver as payment for the betrayal of Jesus, he may have considered that he had made a profitable deal, but very soon he cast away his supposed profits, and by his own act lost the sense of human life. No one can be too honest for his own good, any more than he can be too righteous, too pure, or too wise for his own welfare. In the exercise of strict honesty, one is not called upon to abandon wisdom, good judgment, sagacity, or prudence. Through the recognition of God as the only Mind, as revealed in Christian Science, and by radical reliance on the one Mind to guide and protect him, the individual can hold himself superior to sinful temptations and refuse to be mesmerized by the suggestion that evil has some attractive features.

The ability to hold oneself superior to sickness may appear quite impossible to those unacquainted with Christian Science and its healing power; but when the understanding of God and man in His likeness is gained, this ability is seen to be wholly of God, and ever available for the protection of everyone, when correctly and scientifically utilized. Christian Science teaches the truth about the seeming ills of the body, and shows the source of these inharmonies to be mortal mind, never the divine Mind, God. It is quite apparent that erroneous, inharmonious, or discordant thinking is expressed in the bodily functions. Consider as an example the mental state of anger. When one yields to anger, he shows very plainly by words, looks, or actions just what is the dominant thought temporarily controlling him. Likewise, the mental states of fear, worry, hatred, and revenge, when allowed to reign unchecked in the human mind, sooner or later manifest themselves outwardly in the experience of the individual.

Gently, lovingly, and unfailingly Christian Science is revealing the great spiritual truth that God is the one and only Mind, and that man is the perfect reflection of divine Mind. Proportionately as the student of Christian Science realizes his spiritual coexistence with God, his eternal likeness to God, and his substantiality as God's reflection, he will claim his God-given ability to detect and reject the false suggestions of sickness before the error of belief can be manifested in bodily conditions. If this is done promptly and in accord with the teachings of Christian Science, superiority to sickness will be achieved. The Psalmist declared: "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. . . . There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

Our Leader says it is wise and in accordance with divine Science "to hold yourself superior to sickness and death." Through the apprehension of God, which divine Science makes possible, all may discover the eternal status of man as the ever-living spiritual reflection of Life. Man, thus understood, is seen to have no selfhood, being, substance, or consciousness apart from God, thus revealing clearly that there is nothing in man to die, to change or depart. Matter has no life, and a mortal is not God's man. The supposed changes, the appearance and disappearance of matter, the variable, fluctuating phases of material sense and its phenomena, never bear reliable testimony to the genuine nature of man or his everlasting Life. Man is the highest creation of God, infinite Mind. God made man in His own likeness, and gave him dominion over all.

Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, pp. 231, 232), "Man, governed by his Maker, having no other Mind,—planted on the Evangelist's statement that 'all things were made by Him [the Word of God]; and without Him was not anything made that was made,'—can triumph over sin, sickness, and death." Because God is the only power and presence, there is nothing that can diminish, interrupt, or end our God-given superiority over evil. The study and practice of Christian Science is an indispensable aid in the attainment of this glorious result.

Copyright, 1940, 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.