"The well-known singer and composer Billy Joel wrote a hit song several years ago that gave me food for thought. The song was titled 'We Didn't Start the Fire.' It was an entertaining tune that chronicled a great many of the tumultuous and chaotic events in world history, together with the names of the various individuals who were connected with those events.
"This song's central refrain included these words: 'It was always burning/ Since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire.' Of course, the song doesn't tell us who started the fire, and that's not surprising. The world figuratively and literally has been burning since it's been turning. Why? Because mortals believe that matter is intelligent, that it has life, that it gives pleasure and pain. And this belief is highly flammable and is often explosive. Therefore, it is most important that prayerful Christian Scientists see themselves as the firefighters of history.
"We know how to put out the fire. We know how to extinguish self-destroying false beliefs. With our knowledge of the allness of divine Love, we can smother the beliefs of violent hatred, selfishness, and personal willful sense, and we can reverse the belief that matter can give us anything or deprive us of anything. We can do this as long as we stand fast in the truth."
