Good overcomes evil. Love conquers hate.
I've always found the definition of Dan in the Bible helpful. Genesis reads,
“Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward” (Gen.49:17).
This scripture is particularly vivid! It depicts the attempted destruction of good, an attempt to stop forward motion.
The Founder of Christian Science writes of this attack in the Glossary definition of Dan: “Dan (Jacob’s son). Animal magnetism; so-called mortal mind controlling mortal mind; error, working out the designs of error; one belief preying upon another” (583:26).
Whether we refer to the attempt to make one fall backward as animal magnetism, mortal mind controlling mortal mind, error, or a preying belief, we find that this action is all too common, -- and alertness to this action preserves and heals humanity.
How? Alertness. Alertness is a quality man reflects from God. It preserves harmony and peace by awakening thought to the machinations of mortal mind and mortal desire. Once thought is awakened, the foe no longer is hidden and it is prayerfully destroyed. Good overcomes evil. Love conquers hate. Truth corrects error.
The idea of God, man made in God's image, never, in reality, falls under this attack of Dan. Man is controlled only by divine Mind, Truth, which unfolds to us the design of God, good. Man never preys on man, but rather is awake to see himself as the very likeness of God, good. This scientific understanding defends thought from fear, anxiety, hopelessness and attack.
All false suggestions coming from the mortal, carnal, mind is the "adder in the path". These suggestions are without dominion. They are the ever-recurring arguments which are recite themselves, but they remain a lie because they do not originate in divine Mind, Love.
And the counter fact is found in
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
where Mrs. Eddy writes, “...there is no mortal mind" (SH 103:29)
The true Christian, the scientific metaphysician, is unambiguous in prayer and in life. He knows to be specific in prayer. He knows to wipe out of thought all "graven images" of mortality by putting thought on God and His idea, man.
He will pitch his prayerful mental battle, or argument, with clear, concise, crisp, and perceptible prayerful strokes. He will
lay strong premises and draw firm conclusions based upon the inseparability of God and man’s relationship.
The artist’s stroke determines his portrait. The preciseness of the Dutch painters, rather than the ambiguity of some would-be artists, on the canvas of life show detail and exactness, qualities of man that are reflected from God. This exactness in prayer acts as
a hand-grenade of Truth and wipes out all that is unlike God, good.
To be successful we learn to follow this instruction:
“Watch, and pray daily that evil suggestions, in whatever guise, take no root in your thought nor bear fruit. Ofttimes examine yourselves, and see if there be
found anywhere a deterrent of Truth and Love, and ‘hold fast that which is good’” (My 128).
Evil suggestions are various and they disguise themselves. This makes it imperative that they are unmasked by prayerful attention.
How specific must our prayers be? As specific as you are able to make it and the more specific the better, the quicker the healing. But, any right idea will act as the saving Christ against any lie.
Christ Jesus was certainly aware of the variation of disguises of animal magnetism, the masks of mortality. The Bible reports that he was unfazed by the changing phantasmagoria passing before him. In Luke we read:
“And it came to pass the day after, that he (Jesus) went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (Luke 7: 11-15).
This healing is graphic in its portrayal of Jesus’ spiritual strength and confidence in his own expression as God’s reflection.
Think of this scene with me for a moment. Jesus is walking down the street and he passes a funeral procession. He sees the weeping mother, has compassion on her, and literally stops the procession. He goes to the bier, and, without hesitation or fear of failure, he raises the dead son. Through the power of the healing Christ that Jesus utilized he changed the scene from death to life. Sorrow is replaced by joy. The stage of human experience had the curtain of grief lifted.
Jesus did all this because he understood that there’s no liability for man, God’s child, to fall backward from his perfect position. He understood the ability of man to be, to do, to act, according to God’s law. And he understood the inability of error of action to be, to do, to act. This is why the scene of death and anguish were instantaneously changed to the facts of being - man’s innate God-given life and freedom.
There is an incident recorded in one of Robert Peel’s biographies of Mrs. Eddy. He writes:
“An incident that occurred years ago, when I was ordinary seaman on shipboard, and before I had ever heard of such a thing as mesmerism, shows the cowardliness of these claims so clearly, that I venture to give it.
“A few days out on a trip from Havana to London, it was generally admitted by passengers and crew that our ship was haunted. Strange noises had been heard; and, though we had none on board, a large black dog had distinctly been seen running about the deck at a certain hour in the evening, frightening some very badly. I saw it, with the rest; and resolved to kill it, and so rid the ship of the disturbance. Two chums joined me in my watch, sitting in the passage where he was wont to pass before disappearing. After about four evenings of fruitless waiting, the dog again appeared at the usual hour, and walked calmly over our legs; but, when we each grabbed him, there was nothing in our arms! After an evening or two the same thing was repeated, but this time I ran aft to catch it. The dog disappeared, as before, at the bobby hatch; but one of the passengers, with elbows on the rail and face between his hands, stood laughing ready to burst. With no thought of the consequences or of what I was doing, I ran to him, put my large sailor’s knife to his temple, and exclaimed; ‘If you don’t stop these monkey tricks, I’ll put this into you!’ Astonished at the fearlessness of so young a lad, the man drew back, and without a word, entered the cabin, - but that was the last of the dog and the noises.
“It afterward proved that he was a mesmerist experimenting for his own amusement; being of the sort to have a good laugh at the fears of others, instead of saving them from their fears, as Christian Scientists are taught and have enlisted to do. Of all my early experiences, this one most clearly represents the nothingness of error’s claims, whatever their seeming magnitude. I have seen cancers, tumors and insanity disappear before the sword of Truth, as effectually and permanently as both the dog and the man before the sailor-lad’s knife” (Peel, Trial, 286). When faced with Dan experiences we can hold to these facts:
Good overcomes evil.
Love conquers hate.
Truth corrects error.
