Peace, Not War

EVE CRAIN

We may assume that every alert and thoughtful Christian desires to avert war, and is praying each day that justice shall prevail and hostilities cease—praying that all may say, as did the angel and the heavenly host, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Christian Scientists are learning that peace is the true inheritance of every child of God.

Peace is defined as "a state of quiet; freedom from disturbance; security; harmony between persons or nations." It is without question that every right-thinking person desires to experience "a state of quiet; freedom from disturbance; security." And it is clear that the way to bring this about is through the establishment of such mental qualities as these in individual consciousness.

War, it is evident, brings to light envious, greedy, evil thoughts, which would usurp the place of good; and such erroneous thoughts as these can be annihilated only through an understanding of God. Error never won a victory over Truth, and in knowing this we can advance with assurance. According to mortal belief, error, in the guise of paganism, would make war on Truth. It strikes out ruthlessly, for it knows it "hath but a short time." It may claim to be intelligent, but evil's crafty scheming is devoid of power, because it is unknown to God, the only power. When the belief of sin, sickness, lack, or any other error tempts us, we can prove that God gives us the intelligence and power to reject temptation through recognition of the allness of God.

If our lives are manifesting Godlike, harmonious, peaceful thoughts, we experience good, for we are living in accord with divine Love. If we maintain the true sense of peace in all our daily activities, we shall be preserved and strengthened. How clearly Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, brings this to our thought in the following significant question and admonition (Christian Healing, p. 9): "Contending for the reality of what should disappear is like furnishing fuel for the flames. Is it a duty for any one to believe that 'the curse causeless cannot come'? Then it is a higher duty to know that God never cursed man, His own image and likeness. God never made a wicked man; and man made by God had not a faculty or power underived from his Maker wherewith to make himself wicked"!

Fidelity to the good we know will put to flight any vacillating or lukewarm human opinions. Fidelity to God is knowing and acknowledging Him as the only creator, as the Giver of all good. Fidelity to man consists in seeing him as the image and likeness of God. Fidelity to country means standing firm in the knowledge and conviction that "the government shall be upon his shoulder." To maintain such confidence in the supremacy of Truth is to follow the teachings of Christ Jesus; and with it comes a true sense of peace.

Mrs. Eddy has put this vital question to us, and has given us its answer (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 99): "Men and women of the nineteenth century, are you called to voice a higher order of Science? Then obey this call. Go, if you must, to the dungeon or the scaffold, but take not back the words of Truth. How many are there ready to suffer for a righteous cause, to stand a long siege, take the front rank, face the foe, and be in the battle every day?" In spiritual activity are rest and refreshment. Christ Jesus said: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." It gives us solace and comfort to realize that he who laid "down his life" for humanity, proved man's undying existence as a child of God, eternal Life.

On a certain occasion Mrs. Eddy said (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 295): "I sympathize with those who mourn, but rejoice in knowing our dear God comforts such with the blessed assurance that life is not lost; its influence remains in the minds of men, and divine Love holds its substance safe in the certainty of immortality. 'In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.' (John 1:4)" The love we know and live will dispel fear, anxiety, sorrow, hopelessness, and replace these falsities with courage, trust, joy, and a positive sense of God's allness.

Whatever is wrong in individual, national, or international affairs will be eliminated sometime and in some way, for good can never be destroyed, nor will Truth ever yield to error. God, who is Love, reigns supreme and governs all His children in perfect harmony. The faithful Christian Scientist supports righteous government. He stands firm in time of war, discords, and dissensions, and lovingly works for the purification which will lift thought to that state of consciousness where there are no "wars and rumours of wars."

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