Prophecies worth believing in

A Christian Science perspective.

Prophecies. Thanks to the Internet and radio and television talk shows, among other sources, prophecies seem inescapable. One side declares: Iran will be a danger to the world. Another replies: No, it won’t. The euro will collapse. The war in Afghanistan will fail. Disease will overwhelm humanity. The list goes on and on, and the unwary can be influenced by the repetition of these and other opinions.

Eventually, these predictions may begin to sound as inevitable as the prospect of poverty must have seemed to a woman whose only son had died. He would have been her support, both emotionally and economically. Now he was gone, and to prophesy poverty and sorrow for her would not have been out of line.

Except that’s not what happened. As his body was being carried out of the city, she and her companions met Jesus. The fulfillment of prophecy himself, the Master was fully able to reverse prophecies that would have left people blind, insane, crippled, lost, and in poverty. To the woman he said, simply, “Weep not.” To her dead son he declared, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” And he did (see Luke 7:11–16).

Jesus fearlessly refused to be mesmerized by the material condition of his patients or the prophecies that came along with them. And this is what spiritual thinkers need to do with all diligence during these times when global conditions pose threats to peace and stability. As Mary Baker Eddy put it in her book “Unity of Good,” “Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind” (p. 11).

These currents, if accepted, would define a negative future for individuals and the world. Rejection of false prophecies about oneself, one’s family and friends – and the world’s nations – can begin to turn thought in a more healing and restorative direction. Convincing as false prophecies may seem, they are wholly irrelevant to God’s purpose for all people.

In her explication of Jesus’ healing work, Mrs. Eddy continued, “He annulled the laws of matter, showing them to be laws of mortal mind, not of God. He showed the need of changing this mind and its abortive laws. He demanded a change of consciousness and evidence, and effected this change through the higher laws of God” (p. 11).

These higher laws recognize that there is only one power, namely the divine Mind, whose infinite intelligence pervades each individual consciousness. No one, from world leader to individual citizen, can be cut off from its wisdom and strength. These qualities guide us beyond a scary prophecy, whether it’s the projected loss of a loved one to disease, the loss of one’s home, or fear of changes in society overall that seem harmful.

Jesus’ healing work proved that only Mind has authority. Mortal thinking, filled with fear, ego, pride, or self-involvement, can never lay out conditions for the man and woman of God’s creating. On the contrary, it is Mind that defines the future through its inevitable and continuous self-revelation of good.

Equally important is the need to recognize the good prophecies, or promises, that actually do govern humanity and to which we will be forever subject. Abraham, Moses, and others were strengthened and uplifted by them. Many can be found in Jesus’ last talk with his disciples before his crucifixion. “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also,” “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do,” “I will not leave you comfortless” (see John 14:12, 13, 18).

These three don’t even scratch the surface of the prophecies for good that God gives to each of us. Yet they enable us to realize that whatever mental darkness may seem to descend on us or our nations can be rejected through a conviction that divine law transcends any other law.

Students of that divine law, which Mrs. Eddy gave her life to explaining for humanity’s benefit under the title of Christian Science, are especially well prepared to support the workings of this law during these times. They understand that matter and material living – the erroneous information on which false prophecies are based – cannot stand before divine Spirit’s substantial and omnipotent influence.

Divine law reveals facets of each individual’s spiritual nature that provide strength in times of joy and in times of woe. It empowers us because its source is in unfathomable good. Under this law, which separates Truth from error, it’s possible to reject and reverse that which argues on behalf of evil and instability, and to see the Christ, God’s message of love for humanity, as present here and now.

Nor is the Christ just speaking of a future time when the higher law and a spiritual view of humanity may become a reality. It is, right at this moment, undoing the false prophecies and guiding the world to a better place. It is revealing that purity, strength, and intelligence will lead to the inevitable defeat of evil and to the world’s redemption. And that is a prophecy worth believing.

From an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel.

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