False Alarms

DOES your school have fire drills --times when the fire alarm rings and everyone practices evacuating the school building? Even though the sound of the alarm is loud and startling at first, fire drills can be kind of fun. You get to go out of the building for a few minutes, and you usually see some of your friends from other classes. It's not scary, that's for sure. That's because you know there isn't really a fire. You know it was only a drill, a false alarm.

One time a group of friends were fooled by a false alarm. Only in this case it wasn't a fire but a storm. The friends were students of a teacher named Christ Jesus. They were all together in a little boat on the sea. Jesus was sleeping peacefully when his students woke him up. They were scared that they were all going to drown. A strong wind was stirring up waves that were filling the boat with water!

But they didn't need to be afraid. The Gospel of Mark in the Bible tells what Jesus did--and what happened. ``And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.'' Then Jesus said to his students, ``Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?'' (4:39, 40).

Even though, to his students, the storm seemed like a real threat, Jesus knew the storm didn't have any power, because he understood so clearly that only good is real since God, good, is All. He had been teaching his followers that God is the only cause and the only power, and that man is governed by that divine good. That's why he said they didn't need to be afraid--because they had the spiritual understanding to know that any threat of evil is actually false.

Jesus was the Son of God. The true idea of God that he taught, and illustrated in his own life, is Christ, which is always voicing good to our consciousness. We can hear this heavenly message of good today and always, when we listen for it. And this Christ, Truth, saves us from fear and dangers by showing us they aren't real because God didn't make them! That doesn't mean we should stay in a building that's on fire! But we can know we are always safe in God's care, and we will be shown what to do to experience that safety and peace.

One of Jesus' followers in more recent times is Mary Baker Eddy. She discovered the spiritual truths Jesus relied on, and she founded the Christian Science Church.

When we understand the truths Jesus knew, which are explained in Mrs. Eddy's writings, we come to see that storms, relationship problems, even sickness, are actually false. They can't be real because God--who is the only cause and who only causes good-- couldn't make them. And we, as God's children, can truly have only what God gives us.

It may seem as if evil is real. We may think we're in real danger, as Jesus' friends in the boat did. But the truth is there never was anything that could harm them. And nothing can harm us, either, because God, divine Love, governs us. And when we stop being afraid, and remember that only good is real, we find that God's power will take care of whatever was scaring us. Mrs. Eddy knew this. She once wrote in a poem called ``Satisfied'' (Poems, p. 79):

It matters not what be thy lot,

So Love doth guide;

For storm or shine, pure peace

is thine,

Whate'er betide.

. . . . .

Aye, darkling sense, arise, go

hence!

Our God is good.

False fears are foes--truth

tatters those,

When understood.

The next time you feel afraid, remember that only good is real and only divine Love has power over you--and watch fear get tattered!

O Jerusalem,

that bringest good tidings,

lift up thy voice with strength;

lift it up, be not afraid.

Isaiah 40:9