An axe head dropped in water will sink. Few would argue with this. Physical science explains that the surface tension of water is not strong enough to support an axe head. Gravity will pull it down. So when a man accidentally dropped a borrowed axe head into a river, he was upset, believing it was lost forever. But the prophet Elisha, obedient to God’s law, knew better. The Bible reports that Elisha, learning of the accident, threw a stick into the water—and the axe head rose to the surface (see II Kings 6:1–7).

There are so many areas of life where people are arguing about physical science. From vaccine questions to climate change, many hold fierce opinions. But do we really want to look to the physical senses to tell us what’s true? In every case, physical science, which is based on the evidence reported by these limited and limiting senses, eventually leaves us stranded with the conviction that sickness, accidents, and disasters—discords of every description, regardless of the apparent cause—are real and inevitable.

If we want to conquer our own fears and problems and help our fellow man do the same, we must not be drawn in by the temptation to take sides in debates over material science. We must take our thought higher than what even the best of that science reports. We need to look to divine Science, which fulfills the law of God, Spirit, to inform us about creation and its functions.