Lift gloom from the future

As a child, my mother saw a poster announcing the destruction of the world at a date in the near future. Frightened, she ran home to tell her parents. But she found they were not at all disturbed; they dismissed the statement. Trusting her parents' judgment, she was no longer afraid.

God is man's true Parent. "Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us," n1 wrote the Psalmist. When world news or personal affairs give us a gloomy view of the future, we can, with the same childlike trust with which my mother went to her parents, turn to our Father-Mother God.

n1 Psalms, 62:8

Gloom and depression belong to a material, good-and-evil concept of the universe -- a universe that god, "of purer eyes than to behold evil," n2 could never create.

n2 Habakkuk 1:13

This material concept of the universe is viewed through physical sense. It may seem more real to us than the spiritual and perfect fact, but through a deeper understanding of God's nature we come progressively to see -- and to prove in our living -- the unreliability of human theories and the permanence of divine Truth.

The phasing out of matter-based thinking may take time, but calm assurance, gained through prayer and through proving what we comprehend, will grow stronger and stronger, giving joy and courage to persevere.

Mary Baker Eddy n3 writes: "The foot- steps of thought, rising above material standpoints, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller; but the angels of His presence -- the spiritual intuitions that tell us when 'the night is far spent, the day is at hand' -- are our guardians in the gloom." n4

n3 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science

n4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 174

By turning to the Christ, the true idea of God shown by Christ Jesus, we learn how to counteract gloomy forecasts, however widespread and firmly based they may seem. This does not mean shutting our eyes to evil, but rather opening them to evil's nature -- the unreal opposite of the infinitely good God. Knowing God's omnipotence -- and illustrating it in our day by day affairs -- is the only way to deal with evil effectively.

Once I lived in a country where, on account of political circumstances, a great many people looked at the future without hope. Jobs for young people like me, who were not willing to join the ruling political party, seemed nonexistent. It was then that I met a group of men and women who radiated a very attractive inner joy and happiness. These people were Christian Scientists, and I soon began studying Science.

I learned that a hope-for-the-best attitude is merely wishful thinking. But God endows man with all the good that He Himself possesses, and knowing this deeply -- understanding it -- is true prayer, which brings results.

I gradually gained peace and confidence in God's care. One particular sentence from Science and Healthm by Mrs. Eddy helped me greatly in overcoming impatience and discouragement: "Desire is prayer; and no los can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." n5

n5 Ibid.,m p. 1

Soon an opportunity came along to work in an area I had long loved. I had some qualification for the job but no experience. I applied, however, and I was hired immediately. In every way the position proved to be just what I needed.

hrough spiritually enlightened reasoning and living, each of us can do much to lift threatening gloom from our individual or collective future. Thoughts that reflect the knowledge of God's infinitely good nature can lead to fresh ideas and the confidence to solve deadlocks in political situations. They can bring the realization of one eternal source for man, divine Mind, and thus help clear blockage in human relationships.

As we yield to the Christ, which brings us God's guidance now and in the future, we grow in faith that God's protecting all- power is ours eternally. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Psalms 113:2