War, fear, and love
Fear seems to be one of the root causes of war. We see this when we look behind the more obvious origins of conflict, such as a desire for regional domination or a pattern of tribal jealousy or a demand for land reform. Fear is the oppressor -- fear of humiliation, of attack, of hunger; fear of failure, of being exposed or deposed.
Fear seems common in some form to everyone on earth. It is not unique to leaders, though their emotions seem to impel the thoughts and decisions that move armies. But fear can be controlled. It can even be healed.
Simple reason helps lessen fear in many cases. Education, travel, personal contact -- all can reduce superstition and ignorance, which are elementary causes of fear, and so decrease the animal urges that lead to war.
However, the remedy for fear and the conflicts it causes lies much deeper than human thought because the basic cause of fear lies deeper than any human experience. It is the belief that man is a mortal who is separated from God, infinite good. The Christ, Truth, has always been present to correct this false belief. It is here now with you and with me. It is the tender, comforting, spiritual idea that man in his real being is not a sinning mortal but the very expression from God. The fact is that all the good God is, He gives to man right now. Man never lacks a single good thing, nor can he ever fear that he must fight to keep or get it. God causes man to reflect all good and to know that he does.
And how do we come to see this kind of man as the only true one?As the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, "The real man being linked by Science to his Maker, mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship." n1
n1 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 316.
To reason from the basis of divine Truth is one way to pray. This prayer progressively and permanently heals fear.We feel God's love and care. We feel increasingly secure and safe. To the degree that we humbly accept God's holy, spiritual ideas and live increasingly purer lives, we are freed from the age-old , deeply ingrained lie that man is separated from God and that there is something in us or in anyone else to be afraid of. True prayer shows how all of us can obey Christ Jesus' command that we love our neighbor as ourselves. n2
n2 See Mark 12:31.
As we pray to God, we are beating our swords of fear into ploughshares of spiritual understanding and brotherly love. Since the world seems able only slowly to awake to its ability to hear such tender angels and to heal fear, we may still need armies. But we will gradually need them less. The present trend in many cases toward talk rather than fight will continue and will expand. If we all live our lives from an increasingly Christly basis, subduing the material concept of man and replacing it with God-impelled vision, the possibility for limited tribal conflicts or for a global holocaust will grow gradually less.
It is possible for people today to glimpse more and more that we are God's dearly loved Children, protected by Him. This increasing understanding will do much for us and for our world. DAILY BIBLE VERSE I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make they face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. Psalms 31:14-16
