In the words addressed to Daniel by the king, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee," we have the key to the marvelous deliverance of the prophet from the lions. It is evident that whatever protects and saves must be near, a power with us. We are never delivered from the darkness by a remote light; nor are we saved from errors in the use of numbers by an absent truth. In like manner, deliverance from suffering, distress, or danger of any kind must be accomplished by a living, saving, present power,—a God at hand, and not afar off. The question comes, How are we to have God at hand, consciously, in time of need? Is it not by striving to walk with the divine Principle, Love, at all times? And does not this mean constant effort to express the qualities which are embraced in this Principle, or Mind? When one is tender and loving, he necessarily demonstrates the presence of Love. Love—in other words, divine Principle—includes all there is of tenderness or kindness. When one is truthful, he proves the actual presence of Truth. Truthfulness and Truth cannot be separated. In like manner, intelligence exercised and good expressed demonstrate, or prove, the positive presence of Mind, or infinite good.
To serve God continually, as Daniel did, means the surrender of self— the overcoming of false sense, seeking to gratify its own tastes and desires, in order that the true man may shine forth. The very nature of God is to give; hence the term "infinite good," so often used to express the nature of Deity. It follows that the one constantly giving, or serving good, is working out his unity with the infinite source of good; while the one seeking to gain in a selfish way separates himself from God, who is the only protecting and sustaining power. To serve thus, continually, is to be constantly awake to the fact that all activity, grace, and good emanate from God, and that there can be no true service, right action, or pure thought apart from the one Mind. This was expressed by Jesus in the words, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." It is to know that even the desire for good is not an element or faculty of the so-called human mind, but indissolubly one with the divine Mind; that all thoughts expressed in gentle utterance, kind deeds, and noble actions are the manifestations of this same Mind, and that there can be no expression of harmony or good in any form that is not a direct emanation of the divine intelligence. This knowledge is both power and protection. Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 37): "Immortal Mind is God; and this Mind is made manifest in all thoughts and desires that draw mankind toward purity, health, holiness, and the spiritual facts of being."
Dwelling consciously in the presence of God, by exercising the qualities of the divine nature in our daily life, naturally and necessarily works out our salvation from trouble. Where God is, good reigns; and man's peace is sure. To turn from the belief of a selfhood in matter as an unreal mortal concept, and to recognize one's spiritual identity as the humble servant of the living God, is to insure deliverance from trouble. This must be so; because of the very nature of the relationship thereby realized. In this unselfed service one loses the material sense of himself in the divine, there to find himself as God's idea, man, "hid with Christ in God," and therefore safe from evil in whatever guise or form it may appear.
