What would cause you to publicly and openly express your ideas in opposition to something you felt was very wrong? Most likely a cause that stirs you, perhaps enough to make a difference by adding your voice to a collective whole. 

It takes just a brief scan of world news to find hot spots where people are gathering in protest. In Tunisia recently, people came together over hopes of a more democratic future. And in Egypt protesters have braved violent retaliation in favor of a regime change and an end to oppression. There’s also the example in this week’s In the News article, where an online campaign known as Meter Jam brought together commuters in India to boycott corrupt drivers of taxis and autorickshaws (p. 12). 

Of course, there are also the more silent protests. And it’s these quiet protests that take on deeper meaning when seen relative to scientific prayer. Christian Science defines prayer in a way that empowers the individual to wage a mental protest against whatever is unlike God, good, in their experience—and to expect harmonious results. “Silent prayer,” wrote Sentinel founder Mary Baker Eddy, “is a desire, fervent, importunate: here metaphysics is seen to rise above physics, and rest all faith in Spirit, and remove all evidence of any other power than Mind; whereby we learn the great fact that there is no omnipotence, unless omnipotence is the All-power” (The People’s Idea of God, p. 9). 

Protests for truth acknowledge and affirm God’s presence and power, including the ability of divine wisdom to overthrow everything unlike Him. Jesus taught and proved this principle through his healings, and he was fearless in advocating for divine law over unjust human laws. His healing on the Sabbath spotlighted this spiritual protest. When he healed a woman one Sabbath day who’d been imprisoned by her deformed body for 18 years, he rebuked the ruler of the synagogue, who suggested he’d broken a sacred law. Following his rebuke, “all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him” (Luke 13:17). Aside from bringing to light the woman’s right to physical freedom, Jesus waged his protest against formulaic thinking, against arguments that honor time, pride and position, ego, and rank. And he wasn’t afraid to condemn the wrong, including the health “laws” that suggested disease was unconquerable, inevitable.

We can deny the evidence of disease or in harmony with the full understanding that God backs us.

Our own prayers for humankind’s physical and mental freedom should enter similar pleas. We can trust the healing Christ to come to our thought and protest firmly in defense of our spiritual nature, our divine right to well-being and prosperity. This “importunate” desire involves persistence—a tenacious refusal to see anything but the truth of our being, sometimes one thought at a time. And this brings about progressive, certain, results. 

Usually a protest includes our facing down some sort of opposition to what is right, and at times it may appear that this opposing force has a strong voice. Christian Science calls that supposed power animal magnetism, or the carnal mind (see Rom. 8:7). With confidence, we can declare—protest on behalf of—God’s control of our thoughts. As the prophet Jeremiah expressed it: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29: 11). We can deny the evidence of disease or inharmony with the full understanding that God, the all-knowing Mind, backs us. And when we feel bombarded by evidence opposing Mind’s control, that’s a sure sign it isn’t real! Consider this statement as an explanation of that truth: “The abstract statement that all is Mind . . . receives the mortal scoff only because it meets the immortal demands of Truth”  (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp. 200–201). 

The Sentinel is meeting those immortal demands of Truth, as it faithfully stands guard over a world hungering for healing and peace. Each time you wage a mental protest for Truth, you too join in the Sentinel’s mission—in the Christly mission—to “Watch.” Jesus instructed his disciples: “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:37). His command truly was a collective one that reaches every age. And he proved that nothing could prevent the truth from being seen. 

As we wage our mental protests for good today, we’ll make a difference in our own lives and in the world.