The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-04-18

great depreSolo1. Nothing seemed
worth while, and I turned to the
Christian Science textbook for help,
but what read seemed merely words.
That morning I had to go early to
my Office, and remember feeling
that was not fit to help my patients,
but still had to go. The first person
who came in was lady who told me
she had never felt so depressed in
her life, indeed life didn't seem
worth living, and so on. I had to de-
clare the truth to her, and in so do
ing felt better myself. The next pa
tient was a business man who said
he was In the very depths of depres-
sion, everything seemed dark and
hopeless, with more OF q similar ma
ture. To cut long story short, I saw
about six people that morning and
five out of the six told me exactly the
same story. When the last one started
I burst out laughing. "You must ex-
cuse me-" said, but I have heard
this same story five times running
this morning, and so I can assure you
that it is not your depression" /
have always remembered that lesson.
Today the nations are swept by
waves of fear, depression, and anxi-
ETY., and people not understanding
the impersonal nature of these sug-
gestions think it is their fear, their
depression, their own personal prob
lem, when it is nothing of the sort.
AS we see that the error is imper-
sonal, reject its suggestions, and lift.
our concept of the universe to ap-
proach that which God saw as very
good, we shall not only help our
selves but the whole world as WELL
Here it may be asked, Can we in a
measure help and heal the conditions
of unrest and conflict and turmoil
that are all about us today? Does
spiritual understanding help here? 1t
would be hard to say what else is
sufficient for these things. What is
the reason of the present state of
the world? am convinced that fear
and suspicion are at the bottom of it
all. Now in healing sickness we saw
1t was necessary to change the false
concept for higher, truer concep-
ton of man as God made him. The
same thing needs to be done here.
There is a place in the book Of
Exodus where Moses is told by God
to make beautiful garments for
Aaron, his brother, garments "for
glory and for beauty" Let us make
beautiful garments for the nations,
our brothers. Let us clothe them with
garments of trust and good will, of
honesty and confidence. If in SO do
ing we find ourselves thinking better
of a nation than 1t deserves, or than
we think it deserves, that need not
trouble us greatly, for that will in
itself make it easier for such a ma
ton to become worthier of our conf
dence. It is only our own poor sight,
our material vision, that sees men
and nations as wicked and unwor-
thy. God does not see them so.
Let us dwell on the thought of
peace as divine fact which can
therefore be realized in human ex-
perience. To do this we must have
peace in our hearts, and that in turn
means the elimination of fear and
suspicion. You cannot separate peace
from the good will to men which goes
before and after 1t. The first mes
Sage-the. salutation-of the risen
Christ torhis followers each time he
met them was "Peace!" They were
gathered together in a little upper
room, with shut doors, for fear of
the Jews. Frightened and bewildered
they hardly dared to hope, when sud-
denly they were aware of q presence
in their midst and these were the
words that greeted them, Peace be
unto you." The resurrected thought
Of Jesus, so close to heaven, so coz
scious Of the divine reality, evidently
discerned the greatest need of hui
mainly, and the first effect of divin-
ity, to be peace. This word peace"
comes from an old Latin word mean
aware of the perfect agreement be-
tween God and man in His image,
and the power resulting from this
awareness spake and it was done.
The waves of the sea were stilled
when he spoke to them, and the
turbulent waves of human con-
seriousness were likewise stilled. As
consciousness rises to the Masters
concept Of perfect God and perfect
man we too shall be able to say to
the tumu1t, Peace, be still"
From the human standpoint, when
an agreement Is made there must be
give and take. Each must yield
something of his point of view. To
stand upon OF e's rights, refusing to
yield an inch in any direction, ac-
complishes nothing. Therefore the
practice of the royal law, Give, and
it shall be given unto you," enters
largely into the noble work Of peace
making. This work can only be done
effectively, however, by those who
are individually practicing peace in
their daily lives. The book of Reeve
elation tells us that in the midst OF.
the throne of power Is the lamb. ThaS
consciousness which is innocent OF
guile, Of resentment, and of greed Is
the consciousness of the true peace
maker.
The understanding Of Christian
Science can also be applied to the
problem of lack or unemployment.
to what Is termed the pressing prob
lem of earning living. Here thought
must be lifted from the limited, finite
concept of things to the realm Of
the infinite. Blake wrote, IF the
gates of perception were cleansed.
everything would appear as it is
infinite" Starting from this stand
point we can reason more scien-
tifically.