Weapons and security

World events have shown the futility of relying on armaments for national security. While weaponry may offer some temporary safety, it can never lead to a lasting solution, because reliance on it stems from fear and suspicion instead of mutual trust and love.

In order to develop a trusting relationship with other individuals and nations, we need to realize that God, good, is the only power and that through Christ we can prove the efficacy of divine government right here on earth. The fears that lead to arms buildups stem from the belief that existence is essentially material and that our lives can be shattered by violence and war. But the underlying message of the Bible is that life and man are spiritual, subject only to God. By learning to trust in God, good, we begin to make our way toward permanent peace.

The Psalmist declares, ''Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.'' n1 The words ''name of the Lord'' are often used in the Bible to refer to God's nature. So to remember the name of God is to recall His attributes; He is lawful, loving, wise, intelligent, impartial, universal, omnipotent. As His offspring, we can express these attributes and thus help to bring healing to our world.

A first step is to make Christ Jesus' summary of the Mosaic law a model for our lives. The law declares that we must love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. n2

n1 Psalms 20:7.

n2 See Matthew 22:35-40.

To love God is to trust Him completely, to turn to Him for guidance in all that we do, to rely on Him as Jesus did. Daily we can pray to know that God's government is supreme, that good is present and manifest. We can also look for signs of progress, and support through prayer whatever initiatives seem to be in accord with God, Love.

In fulfilling the second part of the law summarized by Christ Jesus, we can do still more for peace. We can strive to resolve disputes with our immediate neighbors through prayer for a higher and more Christly love for mankind. Sometimes we will face challenges from neighbors who won't be loving or cooperative; other times we may find that we are the ones who need to be more flexible. But each experience will give us more compassion for those working for peace between nations.

We can also realize that God's man, our and everyone's real nature, reflects divine wisdom, understanding, goodness. We see evidence of this fact in our own lives as we give up the mortal view of existence, which is filled with strife, and embrace the peace that comes with the recognition of our actual spiritual identity.

Aiding us in this effort is the Christian Science teaching that God is the one and only Mind. Acceptance of this Mind as the true intelligence each one of us reflects opens our thought to new and inspired ways to look at disputed points. It frees us from rigidly held positions that are based on human pride and will, because we are now seeking God's government instead of our own. In this way we have begun to demonstrate an individual security that is based on love for others rather than on distrust.

Through our practice of loving our neighbors - local, national, international - we come to see that in reality they are all sons and daughters of God, no matter what ethnic, religious, or racial group they belong to humanly. We also discern the importance of rejecting bigotry of any kind, because bigotry is based on the same fear that would lead us into conflict. As Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany: ''The moral abandon of hating even one's enemies excludes goodness. Hate is a moral idiocy let loose for one's own destruction.'' n3

n3 Miscellany p. 249.

By refusing to accept the rule of hatred and fear, we progress toward a greater trust in God's loving government of all His creation. We do this gradually, but the cumulative effect will finally bring us to the day when we can - individually and nationally - give up our modern-day equivalents of horses and chariots because, like the Psalmist, ''we will remember the name of the Lord our God.'' DAILY BIBLE VERSE Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25