IN "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 66) Mrs. Eddy writes, "Trials are proofs of God's care." A cursory reading of this passage may induce one to think it lacks conformity with the acknowledged truth that our heavenly Father knows nothing of discordant or erroneous conditions. This, however, is not so. How pertinent and significant are the words of the Master in this connection: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world"! The manifestation of the Christ-idea found sublime unfoldment in the life of Jesus.
There is a human tendency to harbor self-sufficiency and to forget God. But man's spiritual at-one-ment with God is an immutable, eternal reality. We cannot put God out of our lives. If we try to do so through yielding to material sense, we incur the consequences of disobedience. Every erroneous thought, unwitting or intentional, brings its own punishment. Sin or error exacts its sequences; and this payment is never allowed to make default.
The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," are statements of God's law, the law of Life. Man, being the offspring of God, is spiritual, and is governed by that law. When living in obedience to it, consciously utilizing the qualities of intelligence, honesty, justice, purity, and courage, men come under its protection. But, on the other hand, if they turn aside into the paths of materiality, they drift away from Love's healing and saving power.
