Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God.
~ Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 569
If an enemy pursues you, there comes a point when you must face that enemy, grapple with its claims, and figure out how to defeat them. One cannot run forever. There is always a day of reckoning.
In Truth, there is no power opposed to God. God is the only power upholding all of spiritual creation and preserving the life and health of man forever.
In the human experience, though, there often appears to be other powers opposed to God. Fear, hatred, disease, sin, and death are some of the more common forms. Any appearance of evil is an error of belief that cries out for an understanding of spiritual truth, which in turn, destroys that evil claim.
Rather than running from evil, don’t be afraid to face it squarely and grapple with its claims until you sufficiently see the spiritual truth that defeats them. Victory will always be on the side of Truth.
The sooner this happens, the better! Grapple now.
The good fight”
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1d4i1gqhuvs?s=e
An excellent article – many thanks, Martine
What a great article – just what we all need in order to focus better on the work ahead of us . The emphasis on OBEDIENCE is so good – without that obedience and clear , honest commitment to the active establishment of Christian Science ( in Eddy’s day ) we would have no established movement today . Have we perhaps allowed the comfort blanket of convenient “expediency” to lead us down a blind alley , at times – ??
Tomlinsons call to “ take up arms “ against error ( at home and abroad ) is a stirring bugle call –
Thank you Martine ( I am sharing this with others ) and , as always , thank you dear Evan
Smooth stone
Lynne Cook
The story of David and Goliath again.
One vexing question, always the same.
This time, as I listened,
An answer came.
I asked, Why sling a cool, smooth stone?
Would not a rough and jagged rock
More likely bring the giant down;
Do damage to the mark?
An angel answer came to me.
A smooth stone will fly straight and free
With aerodynamic accuracy,
To find its target unerringly.
So, when I, as the shepherd boy,
See a Goliath facing me,
I’ll sight my target carefully:
Not a person, a body, a sin or disease,
But a lie—a suggestion that evil is nigh;
That God is not All.
Target the lie,
And Goliath will fall.
—Lynne Cook
Reminds me of the Bible story of David and Goliath. David didn’t run FROM error, he confidentially ran TOWARD error to confront it head-on, and was victorious!
Thanks, Evan, for the timely reminder to challenge and confront all the false beliefs of mortal mind and defeat them with the truth.
Thanks Evan, for this wonderful anology of David and Goliath.
Often times Error on face to face with us and we are afraid to confront it headon and destroy it.
These are my 5 stones of Victory….
1. Embrace the enormity and immortal might of Principle. The All in All.
2. Reject the insubstantial, mortal error of belief in matter. No personality, only individuality.
3. It is spiritual consciousness, the One Mind that I express, from within, eternally. God in control.
4. Soul is the substance of my body. Embracing Divine Love. Sharing that Love. Being Love.
5. Now is Life eternal, harmonious, perfectly balanced on the Rock of Truth. And for all
these blessings from God, I am truly grateful.
I keep these Victory stones close by in consciousness and think none would be complete …( slay the enemy ) without Gratitude.❣️
Thank you For this today Evan. Happy day all.
I’m always very interested that MBE says, “here or HEREAFTER” in this sentence. In fact, she says this phrase several times in Science and Health…and I like it because it reinforces what we know about our life continuing after so-called death, beyond this awareness of life. So if we didn’t “get it” here, we still have plenty of time to understand “later”
I find it very comforting to know that in Science, grappling with threats to our well-being is not a
battle with persons or something tangible, but just false suggestions. so we can face them confidently and fearlessly. By correcting our thoughts and keeping them in accord with the spiritual facts, we can find our safety.
The picture shows birds flying around the sun, and if they fly right in front of the sun,
they are safe from anyone who would try and shoot them down, because they can’t
be seen, as the light is so bright. So as we stay in the spiritual light of Truth and Love, we can’t be seen by any aggressive threats against our well-being, and will remain safe from that which would oppose the words of Truth, which mortal sense doesn’t understand and cannot see. As Evan
says, victory is always on the side of Truth.
I love these insightful thoughts Maggie, thank you. And many thanks to everyone for such wonderful comments. So appreciated. 🙂
God is the only power, the only presence. What a radical thought.
Grapple is a nice word. It reminds me of “Scrapple”, which was a tasty pork sausage type product I remember as a kid.. I must say, when I see the nice manner in which you make a point on the vlogs – with a smile or easy going expression on your face – it makes me realise I CAN do alot bette when dealing with erroneous situations and speaking the truth. And please God, help me step out of the cowardly lion costume (from movie The Wizard of Oz).
Grapple means to wrestle with or to come to grips with. To confront and handle something. It made me think of Jacob in the Bible wrestling with an angel all night until he was granted a blessing and was changed and was given a new name. I don’t know the full spiritual meaning of this story but it may be applicable here. Perhaps he was struggling with his demons (mortal beliefs) and finally succumbed to God and was lifted up to a higher understanding and a better way of living.
Thanks a lot everyone and Evan sir for sharing wonderful ideas on be with Truth always and obeying Truth removes everything unlike God. Thanks a lot.
Thank you Evan and special thanks to all who contributed to this excellent eblog.