Recently a friend of mine said that although he has been a student of Christian Science for some time and appreciates all that it teaches of spiritual reality, he still has difficulty thinking of matter as unreal. It seems so substantial, so all-pervasive. His comment reminded me of how I have been helped to understand better the unreality of evil—of all the claims of materiality—by an experience from the Old Testament.
Elisha's enemies plotted against him. They came to the city where he and his servant were and completely surrounded it. Elisha wasn't afraid; his servant, however, was terrified.
So Elisha prayed. He didn't petition God to change the material circumstances. Rather, he said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see." Then the Bible records, 'And 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. Initially, the servant saw crisis, a threat to their lives, and he was afraid. But from the start, Elisha saw the loving presence of God and complete safety. After he prayed, his servant saw this also.
