When a cattleman wants to move a recalcitrant steer, he often cracks a whip to startle it into obedience. Imagine how astonished he would be if the steer were to crack the whip at him instead! It's too absurd to contemplate. Yet isn't this, figuratively speaking, what happens when we surrender our thoughts and actions to mortal mind's apparent control?

We do not have to yield to any unreal influence. According to Christian Science, mortal mind is a totally false view of God and man—it is error, material sense. We do not have to accept mortal mind's domination. In fact, we have a divine mandate to refuse to do so. Mrs. Eddy explains in Science and Health: "Every function of the real man is governed by the divine Mind. The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no control over God's man." ^{Science and Health, p. 151;}

Why, then, do we sometimes find ourselves relinquishing our self-control under God's government to mortal mind? Perhaps we drift into this state gradually, unaware that we are doing so, by becoming complacent and relaxing our guard. Our affairs may be proceeding so smoothly that we forget the necessity to protect our thoughts from unwelcome intruders. Instead of acknowledging that things are going well because under God's government they cannot do otherwise, we may tend to take for granted a smooth-flowing state of affairs.

Such a lapse in alertness on our part may seem to have unpleasant, sometimes even disastrous, results. Where formerly all was serene, we may now find discord and disruptions cropping up unexpectedly. We are apt, then, to protest that matters are "getting out of control," as though divine Mind's government has somehow been pushed aside or strained beyond its capacity. But this can never happen, because Mind is God, unchanging divine Principle, and man is spiritual and perfect.

Should we find ourselves in such confusion and distress, we would do well to recall Mrs. Eddy's admonition: "Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God's government." ^{ibid., p. 393;} This directive makes it unequivocally clear that we need never doubt the strength or continuity of Mind's control over all. We can place everything in our experience under His—God's—perfect care.

On some occasions we may hand over control to mortal mind— or at least seem to—because we are beset by a difficulty of such apparent magnitude or tenacity that we feel inadequate to handle it. This situation comes about through a false sense of responsibility, a belief that we have to cope unaided with the problem. In reality, of course, healing is not our final responsibility at all, but God's, and He never neglects us, His children. As we read in Hymn No. 10 in the Christian Science Hymnal, "All power is given unto our Lord,/ On Him we place reliance."

I had an experience several years ago that confirms this. A skin irritation, which at first seemed only mildly annoying, eventually began to interfere with my freedom of movement and to occasion well-meant inquiries from friends. My hands and feet were so unsightly that I became self-conscious about them.

Never before had I encountered such apparently stubborn resistance to Truth. Baffled, I felt at first resentful, and then frustrated and discouraged. I wondered why, even with a practitioner's help, I was unable to banish the lie. Only when it was gradually made clear to me that I must place complete reliance on God did progress commence. Feelings of fear and inadequacy began to give way to greater confidence and trust in the one divine Mind and its control.

One of the thoughts that helped me to correct my approach to the inharmonious belief was Christ Jesus' promise, "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." ^{Mark 11:23;}

Though the healing did not come rapidly, when it did it was beautifully complete, leaving my skin clear and soft. The incident brought many blessings, both during and after. As a result of my spiritual growth I felt a strong desire to join The Mother Church and, soon afterward, a branch church—steps I had only halfheartedly considered before.

Mortal mind's aggressive suggestions of assuming power over us may seem alarmingly real and threaten to frighten us into acquiescence, but we see their actual weakness if we refuse to be blindly stampeded and turn instead to divine Love. We can support our efforts in this direction by recalling the faith of the Psalmist, who exulted, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" ^{Ps. 27:1;}

When we are absolutely convinced of Mind's all-power, no matter what the situation confronting us appears to be, we can dismiss the error and dispel it, as we would dismiss the absurd notion that a cattleman could be driven by a whip-cracking steer. We can see plainly, as promised by Mrs. Eddy, that "as human thought changes from one stage to another of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy,—from fear to hope and from faith to understanding— the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense. Reflecting God's government, man is self-governed." ^{Science and Health, p. 125.}

Then we know for certain who is "cracking the whip."

Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall
dwell safely, and shall be
quiet from fear of evil.

Proverbs 1:33