At this writing it is not definitely known who was responsible for the terrorist massacre of French soldiers and United States marines in Beirut. But the Christian Scientist can readily identify the thought elements that are the real culprit. These include malice, inflamed hate, criminal intent to kill, and perhaps extreme religious fanaticism. No doubt fear and frustration are part of the mix. Included also is the brazen claim, so universally accepted in mortal thought as truth, that matter has enormous power to destroy life.

In other words, what lies behind the atrocity is the mental action of evil thoughts, aims, and beliefs, which is termed, in Christian Science, malicious animal magnetism.

But this Science is the Science of omnipotent Love, divine Truth. It exposes malicious animal magnetism as fraudulent and unreal, a deceiver that is actually powerless to hold sway over the individual or over humanity.

This exposure stems from the discovery that God is universal, absolute Mind—the one illimitable Mind, Principle, Love, embracing us and all humanity. This Mind is found in Science to be the only real power and, indeed, All-in-all. It is the only real Mind of man, since man is God's offspring and image, His reflection. Thus our true birthright is freedom from evil.

Infinite Mind, because it is Principle and Love, knows no conflicting elements and no destructive forces; all-knowing Mind excludes any possibility of them through its conscious goodness, omnipresence, and all-power. The Science of divine Mind, utilized in human experience, strips away the pretensions of evil and resolves it into nothingness.

To voice these truths is one thing; to prove them is quite another. And yet, the efficacy of this Science of Love to heal conflicts and neutralize hate has been proved and is being proved in the lives of many individuals. Such proofs, even though only the first faint evidence of a mighty Truth, do bear witness to the availability of Love's saving omnipresence in every circumstance.

Demonstration of divine Love's power to save and protect us and humanity collectively requires us to reverse systematically, with Truth, evil's claims to authority, intelligence, reality. At every point, whatever would dispute the All-in-allness of Love, or defy the universal government of divine Mind, is fundamentally untrue and can be reversed and neutralized. Such reversing of the rampant claims of animal magnetism in earnest prayer serves to purify human thinking. It calms the mental climate of society. It brings us protection even amid chaos.

The need is to turn to the truths of divine Mind. We read in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, "Thought is borrowed from a higher source than matter, and by reversal, errors serve as way-marks to the one Mind, in which all error disappears in celestial Truth." ^{Science and Health, p. 267.} We can all pray to hasten the day when this is seen.

The heightening levels of violence in the world stir foreboding in many. Even a former key adviser on security matters to the President of the United States has been quoted as saying publicly, some time ago, that "we are living in a prewar and not a postwar world." ^{Eugene Rostow, quoted in The New Yorker, October 17, 1983, p. 153 .} Yet two thousand years ago the Master, Christ Jesus, saw with prophetic insight "distress of nations, with perplexity," and foretold it with a promise. He spoke of "men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth," but he added: "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." ^{Luke 21:25–28.}

The confrontation between Christ, Truth, and the so-called powers of evil seems aggravated today. It is seen in the exposure of the deceptions of matter and mental evil through the revelation of the Science of Love. The nature of this encounter and of its resolution is described in Science and Health, where Mrs. Eddy writes: "The more destructive matter becomes, the more its nothingness will appear, until matter reaches its mortal zenith in illusion and forever disappears. The nearer a false belief approaches truth without passing the boundary where, having been destroyed by divine Love, it ceases to be even an illusion, the riper it becomes for destruction. The more material the belief, the more obvious its error, until divine Spirit, supreme in its domain, dominates all matter, and man is found in the likeness of Spirit, his original being." ^{Science and Health, p. 97.}

For every period of mortal history, the above expressions of prophetic insight have relevance. They depict the action of Truth meeting error and destroying it. They focus our attention on the point where Love brings to light the Christ, Truth, and wipes out malice and hate, the point where matter and materialism are swallowed up in Spirit. This reduction of evil to nothingness, its native unreality, goes on today. The healing force of Love in human affairs gathers momentum in vastly increasing measure as a result of the great light of divine Science illuminating human thinking.

This holy influence present within us is irresistible. It is bringing to the fore once again the saving, redeeming power of Christ, Truth. We experience this healing power individually, and mankind feels it collectively. As the textbook states: "Ages pass, but this leaven of Truth is ever at work. It must destroy the entire mass of error, and so be eternally glorified in man's spiritual freedom." ^{Ibid., p. 118.} Every day, through scientific prayer, you and I can contribute to this result. We can know divine Mind's guidance even amid irrationality, confusion, chaos; and we can pray to see that this same intelligent direction is available to those in leading positions on the world stage. We can demonstrate Love's protecting power.

DeWITT JOHN