At a time when the armies of Syria were at war with those of Israel, the king of Syria made a determined effort to capture Elisha, whose spiritual vision had foiled his best-laid plans. The Syrian forces were sent to surround Dothan. The account relates how Elisha's servant, going out early one morning, was shocked to find the whole city surrounded. The prophet appeared unperturbed by the situation. He calmly prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened to behold the mighty protective forces of God. We are told, "The Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."II Kings 6:17;
Because the Christian Science Sunday School is a vitally important activity in the growth of our movement, animal magnetism would surround it with beliefs of limitation. These mesmeric suggestions need be no more destructive than were the encircling Syrian forces. For a branch church to have a Sunday School that represents a vital and uplifting influence in the community it serves, the members need in a degree the same quality of spiritual vision as Elisha's. They must discern the wholeness of the spiritual idea of Church as God knows it, indestructible, substantial, useful, complete.
Suppose we seem faced with a Sunday School whose activity has deteriorated or diminished. What shall we accept as its true state of health? Can we say with the certainty of spiritual perception, "It is well!" or do we start to make excuses— there are not enough parents with young families in our church, there are few youngsters in the neighborhood served, the children in the locality go to other Sunday Schools, ours is an area of retired folk? This is admitting, like Elisha's servant, that the situation is hopeless, the enemy overwhelming.
