Frequently situations arise in human affairs which seem obscure and difficult of solution. Whatever proposal of solution presents itself to human thought may seem fraught with penalties, so that the putting of a given proposal or several proposals into operation might apparently make the situation worse than before the efforts to do so were made. In other words, mortals are frequently confronted with situations the solutions for which appear ambiguous and attended with doubt and fear. So frequent and persistent are such dilemmas that mankind has described them with various phrases and catchwords that have become almost proverbial.
The ancients had a proverb, "You fall upon Scylla, desiring to avoid Charybdis," stressing the plight of the mariner who finds his ship upon the rock in endeavoring to avoid the whirlpool. Similar phrases frequently voiced are, "Between the devil and the deep blue sea," and, "Out of the frying pan into the fire."
Is it true that there is no escape from dilemmas and ambiguities, except with loss or disaster, and that avoidance of one ill brings one into collision with another and, mayhap, a worse one? To these seemingly baffling questions Christian Science has one firm and reassuring reply— there is a way of escape, and this way of escape does not lead into worse difficulties and dangers, but into freedom and light.
