Perhaps everyone is ready and willing to admit that the more clearly he understands a truth, the greater is the confidence he has in it and the less he is confused or disturbed by any arguments which might arise in an attempt to refute or reverse it. He remains secure in the truth proportionably to his understanding of it and his ability to prove it.
In Proverbs appears the following passage: "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge." How naturally and beautifully do the teachings of Christian Science inspire love and reverence for God! How clearly and unmistakably they unfold to us that we are the children of God! How certainly and consistently does this strong confidence obtain, and how plainly does this place of refuge reveal itself as we learn of our true heritage as His children, ever dwelling in the bosom of the Father, inseparable from Him as His image or reflection!
The moment one begins to grasp the right sense of man, "the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him," he is imbued with a desire more nearly to manifest his real being. He begins to lay hold on Life eternal and to love God. good, supremely, and to seek to demonstrate his God-given dominion over evil and discord. As he approximates this understanding and demonstration of good as supreme and Love as ever present, he gains a strong confidence and finds a safe and sure refuge. This is not a refuge to which he has been driven through fear, but one which he has sought and found through the impelling power of Love. It is a confidence born of an understanding of Truth acquired through growth in grace, a sure understanding of Truth which brings a sense of security from the belief that error or evil has power. How can one who is constantly fearful of evil enjoy strong confidence? Can he find refuge in fear? Christian Science teaches us how to know the nothingness of error through an understanding of Truth, how to see the impotence of evil through demonstrating the omnipotence of good. It shows us how we may replace fear with love, doubt with assurance, and uncertainty with security, all through an understanding of God and of man as the forever witness of God's being.
