FROM the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I." The sixty-first psalm contains this call for help; but it conveys far more than a blind turning to an unknown, far-away God, with the vague hope that the prayer may possibly be answered; for it manifests the confident assurance of one passing through deep waters that the loving, listening ear of our Father-Mother God is ever present, and that resting in His strength and guidance can lift one out of what may seem to be overwhelming trouble.
It is not surprising that any one looking around to-day on the struggle of so many to preserve life and happiness through human means, might be tempted to say in the words of the Preacher, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." But the great thing to discover is whether it is really the truth about God and man which men are seeking.
A student of Christian Science was once going through a seemingly very dark experience. As she looked around, it appeared to her that others who were less deserving were having a much easier time than she; and she began to feel an overwhelming sense of self-pity and injury as she thought of first one person who was apparently very selfish and yet seemed to have so much happiness and ease in his life, and then of another, who had apparently not been half so faithful in his work as she, and yet appeared to be gaining such joyous benefits and supply for all his wants; and so on, until in the midst of tears the student thought: I cannot go on; it is too much for me, and my work seems no good at all! Happily, no sincere Christian Scientist can long stay in such depths without turning to the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy; and in the light of the wonderful understanding of the truth contained in the Holy Scriptures, which our Leader opens for us, the darkness vanishes. One of these inspired passages now came to lift the gloom, as the student read on page 322 of Science and Health, "When understanding changes the standpoints of life and intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or Truth, in its divine Principle."
