When we first commence studying Christian Science or hearing about it from other people, we learn with a great sense of relief that God is infinite good. He fills all space; He surrounds us and enfolds us. We can all recall the words from the Bible, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." A true picture, indeed, of our Father-Mother God and His relationship to His ideas.

In the allness of Love there can be no contrary evil. To glimpse this fact, even slightly, is a great joy and an immediate protection from false beliefs of every kind. We used to hope that everything would go right with us, and sometimes we were told to have faith and wait for coming good, but the message of Christian Science is that all is entirely well now with the whole of God's creation. How could it possibly be otherwise?

Trouble, sometimes called error, is just a lie; but often the lie seems very real. At school we learn that mathematics is always correct; that it contains no errors and no mistakes. Where do the mistakes come from? They arise from our own ignorance of arithmetic or algebra. To solve our problems accurately we must use mathematics correctly, and this becomes easier with practice, until we obtain the necessary confidence and mastery and are able to solve very difficult questions.

In the life we live day by day, every trouble or difficulty, illness or accident, failure or discouragement, and countless other things confronting us are lies; and one of the worst lies is the error that is called fear.

Fear tries to attack everyone in some way. Sometimes it may be the fear of disease or of catching disease; at other times it may be fear of people or fear of failure in examinations or games. And quite often it is fear for other persons, perhaps relatives or friends who are very dear to us.

Yet, if we think intelligently, we shall see that fear always stems from false belief in a power apart from God, good. Once having seen it as such, we shall be able to deal with it scientifically and effectively. Each time we conquer fear in this way it becomes easier to do so next time it rears its ugly head.

Fear may bring the very troubles we dread, so if we will deal with the fear, we shall wipe out the trouble. To illustrate: it is very interesting to think of a beekeeper with his bees. By reason of his knowledge and experience, a beekeeper is seldom afraid of bees, because he knows that if he is gentle and quiet with them they are not likely to sting. In fact, all they want to do is to get on with their work.

So, many beekeepers can work at their hives in the summertime without the protection of veil or gloves. There is no fear concerning the operations, and all goes along happily. But let some stranger who is afraid or anxious go among the hives and the bees are not so docile. It is as though they sense the presence of an enemy, and often they will proceed to attack. The only enemy present, however, is the belief of fear which ignorantly introduces into the situation a wrong sense. The stranger on the scene disturbs the sense of order and harmony by his fears, and this belief alone brings the retaliatory stings.

Let us get accustomed to looking beyond the appearance of things and keep our thought perfectly clear that God and His spiritual creation alone exist, and that His purposes for all are good. The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has told us in the textbook. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," exactly how Jesus healed the sick and how we can do works similar to his. On page 493 is found this question: "Will you explain sickness and show how it is to be healed?"

Mrs. Eddy says (p. 495): "When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not."

How similar is this to the Master's words, "Be not afraid." When suffering humanity realizes that there is no reason for fear or anxiety, then the approach to the loveliness of Life will be rapid indeed. Above all, there is one thing we need to know. Let us remember it with great joy and gratitude. God, infinite Love, is All-in-all; therefore in His universe fear has never existed and will never exist. What seems to be fear belongs but to the false dream-sense of life. Let us hold firmly to the fact that evil is unreal. Then when tempted to be afraid we shall assert the all-power of divine Love, and we shall win.