Just read one of the columnist's offerings in The New York Times this morning, Friedman, who has a sobering assessment of what we on this planet face. Not that he's by himself, by any means, in sounding the alarm. One can't look at the nightly news and miss the challenges calling for, in the case of those who are God-loving people, better praying.
The current situation calls to my thought something our great Master said. In telling his disciples about conditions that would come to pass, Jesus spoke of "men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." (Luke 21:26)
Many people, observing present world conditions, may be ready to conclude that these days must surely be upon us. They feel overwhelmed. Many lose heart.
This, however, is the thing one should not do when faced with disheartening circumstances. When Jesus warned men of eventual upheaval, he also offered a way of escape. "When these things begin to come to pass," he counseled, "then look up, and lift up your heads;for your redemtpion draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)
Our redemption or salvation from fear can come as soon as we progess in our understanding of God's government of man and the universe. I am thankful that my religion, Christian Science, encourages me to know God as an ever-present, redeeming help. Through many challenges, I've found that there is no problem too overwhelming for God to solve.
Life can seem hopeless at times only if one thinks of man as separated from God, left to fend for himself in a material, somewhat mysterious universe controlled by amoral forces. But Christian Science teaches that man is God's child, inseparable from God, loved by God, protected by God, secure in God. And the same spiritual laws that enabled Christ Jesus to heal and regenerate men are available to all mankind.
The basis of Jesus' unfailing ability to subdue difficulties of every description was his practical understanding of divine law, his consciousness of man's spiritual relationship to God. God, divine Love, governs all things harmoniously, and the divine government is reflected in our daily lives. When we realize that the divine Mind is continuously maintaining all in spiritual harmony and perfection, we can begin to see there is no hopeless condition, no insoluble problem.
I know, I know. Someone may be wanting to say to me, "How can you possibly believe God is in control with all that is happening right now?!" If the one reading this is in the US where I'm blogging from, he or she may be thinking of the BP mess in the Gulf. If there is a God, they may want to say to me, why doesn't He fix things?"
The way out of whatever confronts us is, in my experience, applying the knowledge of God's allness that Jesus had. Of course, better praying is required. And I know that I must be doing this--not just throwing up my hands as so many do with a what's the use attitude. The best minds among us, scientific and financial, may not know how to solve the giant problems facing the world. But our all-powerful, all-knowing, everpresent Father does.
As the Old Testament assures us: "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy gret poer and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"
(Jeremiah 32:17)
