Time to throw off the sackcloth

INGRID PESCHKE, MANAGING EDITOR

In Bible times, people often wore sackcloth during periods of mourning or as a symbol of repentance. Sackcloth was often made of coarse, black goat's hair, and since it was worn next to the skin, it was likely scratchy and uncomfortable—meant to be a constant painful reminder to its wearer. Fortunately, it wasn't forever and it was removable.

Chronic pain, on the other hand, can feel like sackcloth that never comes off. Finding relief at any cost may be all someone suffering can understandably think about. Take, for instance, this week's contributor Phoebe Lawson who wrote the article "Under God's umbrella." As a mother with young children suffering from debilitating migraines, she takes countless medications and even undergoes an operation before she eventually finds her solution through prayer.

What a cause for celebration! But what if you've tried everything—perhaps even prayed and prayed—and you're still waiting for healing? Writer Arno Preller uses the analogy of the Berlin Wall, which could be viewed as a wall of cold, hard, impenetrable pain. Yet, in one historic moment, that wall came down. It wasn't permanent after all. He writes, "We accept many things as inevitable, as law really, when there's no law behind them at all."

Christian Science proclaims that there is no law that supports pain. It provides the life-giving Truth that "... opens the prison doors to such as are bound, and sets the captive free physically and morally" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 495). There really is no reason why any one of us should have to carry around a sackcloth of pain. Instead, every day can be a reminder of our oneness with God and His ideas. This week's Sentinel issue urges you to throw off that sackcloth.

WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.
—JESUS

The Christian Science Sentinel was founded in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy, and its mission remains the same: "to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love." The Sentinel continues to report on the unlimited ways that the healing power and presence of the Christ activates, uplifts, and transforms the lives of everyday people around the world.

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