At this hour when people the world over are in the throes of human warfare Christian Scientists should be awake to the thought conditions which lie back of these discords and disturbances, and should be dealing daily with such errors for the sake of themselves and the world. In this it is plain that as Christian Scientists we cannot be isolationists, inasmuch as we recognize that we are living in a world of thought and are dealing with mental conditions which are neither local nor personal.
Christian Scientists, more than any others, are in a position to recognize and deal successfully with the claims of human will, personal domination, and mesmerism wherever and whenever these evils put forth their claims, for we know that God, good, is the only Mind, influence, and power. One of the effects of these evils is to make people apathetic and cause them to yield to the claim of mental inertia at a time when right activity should be expressed. If these conditions are noted in any of our Christian Science work, either in the churches or with individuals, Christian Scientists need only to "put on the whole armour of God" by renewing their sense of gratitude and consecration, and by handling specifically the claims of mesmerism or animal magnetism. Or if discord and dissension appear in church relations, where concord and co-operation should predominate, unselfish desire to promote the Cause of Christian Science should impel church members to strive scientifically and, therefore, lovingly to heal the situation. In this connection it is essential, of course, to remember that evil is never personal, but is simply false belief, which lacks Principle, power, and identity.
At this time it seems especially appropriate to call attention to Mrs. Eddy's rousing call found in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 177): "Never was there a more solemn and imperious call than God makes to us all, right here, for fervent devotion and an absolute consecration to the greatest and holiest of all causes. The hour is come. The great battle of Armageddon is upon us. The powers of evil are leagued together in secret conspiracy against the Lord and against His Christ, as expressed and operative in Christian Science. Large numbers, in desperate malice, are engaged day and night in organizing action against us. Their feeling and purpose are deadly, and they have sworn enmity against the lives of our standard-bearers.
