To the Christian who strives to follow in his Master’s footsteps, growth in spiritual light and love is assured. Journeying on this path is full of joy, renewal, redemption, spiritual discovery, and healing—what the Bible calls “the goodness of the Lord” (Psalms 27:13) at work in our lives.
Sometimes, though, as we walk down this road, we may find ourselves unexpectedly coming up against resistance to our spiritual progress. One form of resistance is persecution, which seems to strike at the heels of many sincere Christians today. But if we find ourselves confronting persecution, we can rejoice in a beautiful fact: It is powerless. It cannot actually harm its intended victim. It is doomed to fall to the ground, even as the spiritually minded follower of Christ continues to rise in consciousness to behold and understand more of God’s kingdom right at hand. Perceiving the power and presence of divine Love embracing and caring for us, we will know that God keeps us safe, because in Love’s kingdom there is nothing to harm us.
The discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, pointed out, “The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle, ‘of whom the world was not worthy,’ await, in some form, every pioneer of truth” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 28). Pioneers of truth are those who give their heart and soul to putting Christ’s teachings into practice, to living a life of spirituality. They are striving to prove in their lives—through a spiritual transformation of thought and character, as well as through physical healing—the supreme allness of Spirit, God, and the actual nothingness of matter. If we wish to be pioneers of truth, then as we grow in our spiritual understanding and demonstration of divine reality, we won’t be afraid of the carnal mind’s opposition. Its persecutions are aimed at the divine Truth that proves its nothingness, but they have no power to harm or marginalize us, because all real power lies with God, good. Our growing understanding and proof of spiritual truth overcomes and destroys the carnal mind’s resistance.
