Lessening our fear of nuclear holocaust

Perhaps more than ever before, people are asking what can reasonably, realistically be done to prevent nuclear war. Is it possible that the very dimensions of the threat are forcing mankind to at least consider spiritual solutions? As it dawns on many of us that the future of mankind is at stake, might more of us become more willing to rely on God to deliver us and our children? Some feel He is our only hope. The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, ''Man has 'sought out many inventions,' but he has not yet found it true that knowledge can save him from the dire effects of knowledge.'' n1

n1 Science and Health with key to the Scriptures

To turn to God means to pray to Him. But in turning to God we need to realize that He has not arranged the threat of nuclear war as His ultimate punishment for a sinning race or as His final method, through fear of annihilation, of forcing stubborn mankind to obey Him. ''God is love,'' n2 the Bible teaches, and Love doesn't threaten; infinite good doesn't produce evil. Rather, the evil in human thought ultimately destroys itself, because it would oppose the infinitude of divine Love and deny man's actual selfhood as Love's pure and blessed image.

n2 I John 4:16

To pray to God is to admit we need a higher intelligence and wisdom to help us. It's to realize something of man's true, God-created nature and potential. Prayer is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of humility, which is one of the greatest human strengths.

Christ Jesus was the most humble man who ever walked this planet, and clearly his humility wasn't weakness. It was a vital factor in his proofs of God's care, including the occasion when he escaped unharmed from an angry mob. n3 Didn't Jesus understand the true character of God and man, and their relationship as Father and son? This understanding, to the degree we cultivate it, can enable each of us today to feel and find protection, to lessen our own and the whole world's suspicion and fear, which underlie the nuclear threat.

n3 See Luke 4:28-30

Jesus was a man of love, but he was not naive. He said to his opponents, ''Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.'' n4 But he also knew that love is never helpless before hate. He showed that the way to be rid of evil is through the power of God, divine Love. He taught us to love our enemies.

n4 John 8:44

Maybe the best way to love anyone who would hate us is to perceive his real nature as the child of God. We all have innate spiritual sense that can discern this reality. Spiritual reality, including God's ideal spiritual man, exists right where the most heinous mortal traits - or our fears of them - smolder on either side of the iron curtain.

This love that perceives something of divine reality, transcending appearances, enabled Jesus to heal multitudes and to raise himself from the dead. He proved that no power on earth can overwhelm the heavenly power of divine Love.

To the degree we individually grasp that God, perfect divine Love, is the Father of all and the preserver of creation, we will feel less fear and more peace. Our spiritual understanding, no matter how slight, will inevitably help others feel that peace as well.

Many turn to God for comfort after a tragedy. But we can also turn to Him for comfort before one, and not simply the comfort of being willing to resign ourselves to it but of being able through God's powerful love to help prevent it. Holocaust is not inevitable. Considering God's great love, is it unrealistic to believe and to trust that the spiritual understanding which unfolds through deep, heartfelt prayer is practical and potent; that it can help create an atmosphere in which mutual trust and peace, on a solid foundation, can be more fully realized?

Mankind need not annihilate itself. Rather, as we gradually yield to God, the divine law of good will annihilate both the fear of evil and the consequences of evil. Mrs. Eddy writes: ''Divine Love is our hope, strength, and shield. We have nothing to fear when Love is at the helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and in heaven.'' n5

n5 Miscellaneous Writings, p. 113.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil. Jeremiah 29:11