As soon as thought begins to become spiritualized, the individual commences to understand that man lives under divine protection, maintained and preserved by the Supreme Being, whom men call God. The fact is illustrated throughout the Bible. The patriarchs, awakened in some degree from the dream of life in matter, their thoughts turned to the living and true God, felt the divine presence, recognized their relationship to it, and were thereby supported on many an occasion.
In the Psalms, where the spiritual life of the Hebrew people is so vividly depicted in its rise and fall, may be read on many a page utterances testifying to the security some of them felt in the divine presence. Thus, in the sixty-second psalm it is written: "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us." And does not the ninety-first psalm from the first to the last line simply pour forth a declaration of reliance on "the Lord"? The ninth and tenth verses, which may be taken as an example of the trend of the whole psalm, run: "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." The same is seen when one turns to the New Testament. In the gospel narratives Christ Jesus is repeatedly found pleading the loving fatherhood of God, illustrating the Father's care for His children, in many beautiful and simple similes. Thus, when he was counseling his disciples not to be too careful about earthly things, he said, "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." On another occasion he said to them, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." Jesus knew more about God and man's relationship to God than did any other; and his revelation to mankind established the truth that this relationship was so absolute that nothing could possibly interfere with it. Had not God arrayed the lilies in all their simple beauty until they surpassed the splendor of Solomon? And did not His vigilance reach even to the humble sparrow?
Now, the meaning of these illustrations does not lie on the surface. The casual thinker may, indeed, find in them support for a faith which may help him in a measure to weather some of life's storms; but there are many others who, not content with a blind faith in God, are desirous of knowing what God's nature is, what the relationship is which exists between God and His creation, and how exactly this established connection results in the divine protection vouchsafed to His creation, including individual man. It is reasonable that men should desire to know these things. It is right that they should know them. And the question arises, Can they know them? Christian Science answers, Yes! All these things have been revealed, the nature of God and His spiritual creation, the exact relationship which exists between them, and how this relationship, established and sustained by spiritual law, preserves man. The revelation of Christian Science is very wonderful, and very simple.
