It becomes increasingly clear to the one whose perception is being quickened and instructed by the teachings of Christian Science that the unrest and disturbance that seem to prevail in the world to-day, in the physical, mental, moral, and political realms, are not conflicts between persons or nations, but simply the inevitable result of the workings of truth in the human consciousness. Mrs. Eddy foresaw this upheaval and described it on page 223 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in these words: "Marvels, calamities, and sin will much more abound as truth urges upon mortals its resisted claims; but the awful daring of sin destroys sin, and foreshadows the triumph of truth." In other words, what seems to be an ever enlarging state of confusion and disaster is simply the inevitable travail of the mortal sense of creation, as truth continues to urge upon this sense the facts of being, thus forcing it to give up its false beliefs in a creator, a creation, or a governing law apart from God. Mind. It is the never ceasing activity of the still, small voice of Truth, overturning and overturning the illusion of life in matter, and this activity will continue until every vestige of the false sense of universe is destroyed, and the spiritual understanding of reality is obtained. The failure to understand what is really going on is what causes this mistaken sense to continue its struggles against seeming effects, instead of going straight to the root or cause of the varied difficulties.
Therefore to see something of what is really happening is the first necessary step toward freeing ourselves as individuals and as nations, from the effects of this chemicalization in its myriad forms. The awakening to these facts is the first ray of light to shine in the darkness of materialism and is the harbinger of that full effulgence that alone can penetrate and eventually destroy the sum total of that darkness. Many students of Christian Science have discovered that it is useless to struggle with any inharmonious condition while viewing it from a material or physical standpoint, and that we become masters of a situation and gain our freedom from its bondgae only as we awake to the fact that the struggle is always and entirely a mental one, no matter in what phase of human experience it seems to be taking place. Such experiences have also taught us the uselessness of attempting to run from a situation in our endeavor to escape its undesirable effects, for so long as a belief in any unpleasant or harmful situation or condition exists in thought, just so long are we subject to the possible manifestation of that belief, however we may be placed. This understanding of the mental nature of all so-called problems is the first weapon which truth places in our hands in the warfare against error, one of the weapons spoken of by Paul: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." The length and severity of the struggle is always determined by how intelligently and faithfully we use our weapon. But let us always remember that to begin by acknowledging as real a physical or material condition, and then to attempt its destruction with Christian Science, is what Mrs. Eddy speaks of as "mental quackery," on page 359 of the textbook, where she says: "It is mental quackery to make disease a reality—to hold it as something seen and felt—and then to attempt its cure through Mind." No actual condition can be changed or destroyed.
Now what are some of the most prevalent phases of the warfare with the flesh in which we need to use this weapon? It will be readily admitted that fear is the giant Goliath in the human pathway from materiality to spiritual reality. The dictionary delines fear as apprehension, anxiety, dread, which are all mental conditions indicative of the belief in a power opposed to the all-power of Spirit, and the constant expectation of results from that supposed power. It matters not what line of argument this fear may take, whether of sickness or sin, accident or loss, whether disturbances in individual or national affairs, it is always the very root of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the weapon necessary for its destruction, the understanding that we are not entering a battle with a material power, law, or condition, must be brought into instant and constant us". By so doing we not only destroy the offending branch but also rob it of its very claim of having a root or source. To this end Mrs. Eddy instructs us on page 411 of Science and Health, "Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients," and again and again assures us that when the fear is destroyed the difficulty is overcome.
