Do news reports dismay you?

There was a time when I was troubled while reading the daily paper or listening to the news on TV. I was worried about what the government was or was not doing, the rising crime rate, inflation, threats of war, and on and on. I was unhappy not only because of the disturbing news but because I felt helpless to do anything about it. Then, after some pondering, I remembered God. As I reflected on His power and goodness, my whole perception of news reports began to change.

I reasoned that there must be a God, a Supreme Being, a divine Mind who governs all. This Being must be Love and totally good, for if it were part good and part evil, it couldn't perpetuate itself, and there would be chaos. If God is all good, I saw, His creation must be good, and His law must provide omnipotent control over all, resulting in universal harmony.

This, I concluded, is the truth of being, despite appearances to the contrary. Consequently the crime, lack, and conflict that troubled me were not of God's making; they were the outcome of a misconception of God and man - the product of the carnal, or mortal, mind, without genuine power or reality. This was an inspiring thought! It led to my freedom from many of the imprisoning concepts I had held regarding evil and its apparent power. I realized how the Apostle Paul, facing ''bonds and afflictions,'' could say through his spiritual understanding of God, ''None of these things move me."n1

n1 Acts 20:23, 24 '' 1

When we're troubled by a news report, we can regain our peace - and compassionately contribute to the healing of the situation - by realizing with conviction that God is the sole power, and that He will correct through His law whatever needs correcting.

Sometimes the news concerns government actions with which we disagree, and which we believe will have dire results. Worrying about this will not help, but having faith in the harmonizing power of God's law, regardless of apparent conditions, will be of immeasurable benefit. It will both lift our own thought to a clearer perception of God's perfect government and help those in authority to take wise action. And we can realize that any wrong action taken by authorities is subject to reversal by God's correcting law.

When the news deals with high inflation and its devastating effect, we can see through prayer that factors which feed inflation, including imbalance between supply and demand, have no basis in divine law and no power to affect the divine economy of God's kingdom, where we actually live and have our being. Through this understanding that God controls all wisely and justly, we'll be helping in some measure to correct inflation and to support all those who may be struggling with it. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, states: ''No mortal mind has the might or right or wisdom to create or to destroy. All is under the control of the one Mind, even God."n2

n2 Science and health with key to the scripture P. 544.

And what about disturbing reports on crime, drug traffic, immorality? Instead of being horrified or despondent, we can look upon such news as a call to action - as a call to help our fellowman by recognizing that these evils are ripe for destruction and can be progressively nullified. We can work to realize more clearly their impotence in God's sight and His ability to govern and heal.

Clearly, Christ Jesus was not alarmed by evil in its various forms. His unshakable understanding of God's supremacy and control enabled him to destroy evil. And he counseled his followers not to be dismayed but to cheerfully await nullification of evil through Christian warfare. He said, ''In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."n3 We can begin, however modestly, to do the same.

n3 John 16:33

Whatever form evil assumes, we have the opportunity to reverse it with the truth of God's all-power and continual presence. As we do this, we find ourselves undismayed, gladly doing our part in lessening the world's evils and making evident the glory of God. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed. Joshua 1:9