"This seems so, but it is only a misapprehension of the truth, for evil is not real, has no entity or principle, God (Good) never made it," said the practitioner.
"But if it is not real, and God did not make it, where did it come from?" asked the pastor.
Mrs. White's face broadened into a smile, and then she said, "Mr. Williams, I think I will tell you a little story that I wrote to one of my patients who was suffering from a claim of indigestion. She insisted that evil was real, and offered up the evidence of her indigestion as proof thereof. This little story came to me as I was thinking of her case. It may enlighten you on the origin of evil as it did her. Now for the story."
CHAPTER XIII
THE UNREALITY OF EVIL
"Once upon a time long, long ago, there was a great and good king, who lived in a country where everything was good. He had thousands of subjects under him, and these subjects were all good. This was because the king was good and the people strove to be like him. But one day one of his people imagined she saw an evil thing or devil, and became greatly alarmed thereat. She hurried home and told her husband what she had seen, and he believed her story about this evil, or devil (that never had any existence, only in the imagination of this woman). And because of her great fear of it this woman kept thinking of this evil constantly, until at last it seemed very real to her, and after a time she imagined this evil, or devil, had entered her body and was stopping her stomach from digesting its food. She also told this to her husband, and he became afraid of this myth, and told his friends that an evil, or devil, had entered the body of his wife. His friends began to talk about this evil, or devil, wondering what it might be. At length, after discussing it for some time, they decided they didn't know what this evil was, but that it ought to be given a name, so called it indigestion, because it had stopped the woman's stomach from digesting her food. In this way this imaginary thing became real enough to have a name. After the people had given this evil, or devil, a name, they all began to make suggestions of how best to get rid of him. One suggested that a plate be made hot and applied to the stomach. This, he thought, would make it so uncomfortable for the devil that he would leave. Another suggested that the woman take a strong dose of peppermint and burn the devil; another suggested that they manipulate the stomach, i. e., pull and haul and pound it, hoping in this way to kill him; another said, let us attach an electric battery and shock the devil. Another said he believed that devils had an aversion for blue lights, and thought that if they would let a blue light shine on him, he would leave. Another said, give the woman a bath of mud, let her be covered all over with soft mud, and this will smother the devil. Still another suggested that the woman be sent away from home to another climate, he thinking the devil might not like the change, and so leave the woman. Hundreds of other suggestions were offered and tried, but none of them succeeded in driving this devil out of the woman. And now, after several thousands of years, the people are still offering advice to this woman, but with no better success. The simple reason why all these things did not succeed in driving out this evil, or devil, is that in reality there wasn't any devil to drive out, as it was only an imaginary thing and had no existence, only as an illusion in the mind of the woman. About 2,000 years ago, there lived a man who was intelligent enough to understand what the trouble was. He said that there were not any evils, or devils, and that God, or the Creative Principle, was good only, and that evil was a lie, or delusion, and proved His words by His works. This enraged the wise men of His time very much, for they had been teaching the people that evil was real, and that in many instances God put evil upon His children to make them good. These wise men were sore afraid that the people would believe what this good man was teaching and denounce their teaching. So they conspired together and had Him crucified, and still continued their teaching that evil was as real as good. About forty years ago, a woman, intelligent and good, became conscious of the unreality of evil, and after a careful study of the life of this man who was crucified, she discovered that all this good man had said and taught regarding the unreality of evil, was the truth. She wrote a book explaining this great fact, and said, 'If the people would study this book, they could prove for themselves that there weren't any evils, or devils.' As in the time of the good man that was crucified, so in her time, the wise men were teaching the people that evil was real, and as the teachings of this woman were contrary to their teachings, they became enraged; and if it had been customary to crucify people in her time, she would have been crucified. Since that book was written, many thousands of people who imagined they had evils or were possessed with devils, have, by reading and studying this book, discovered that all of the evils, or devils of the past and present were imaginary, and seemed real, because we feared them. This book also teaches that the only way to get rid of these imaginations, or false beliefs, is to use our God-given intelligence and reason rightly, and then we would discover the nothingness of these evils, or devils, and our fear of them would depart, likewise the evils, or devils, no matter under whatever name they might be masquerading, as it was only our ignorance of the true facts, coupled with our fear, that made them seem real. So with this woman, who imagined she saw an evil, or devil; if she had not feared it, she would have investigated and consequently have discovered its unreality."
As Mrs. White finished her story, she looked at Walter, and by the way he nodded his head she was sure he had grasped the truth of her story. Then, glancing at the pastor, she said, "Mr. Williams, does that answer your question, as to the unreality and origin of evil?"
"Mrs. White," said the pastor nervously, "That story answers my questions so fully that I haven't any foundation to stand on, and as I have been preaching the reality of evil these many years I am at a loss to know what to say or do."
"Do not worry or get excited, Mr. Williams, Every person is more or less confused as his old idols and gods are destroyed, but fear not, for out of this destruction will rise an intelligent temple with God, Good, the ruler thereof."
"But I am at a loss what to do. I have discovered the fact that I was mistaught in regard to the reality of evil, and now I fear that all the rest of my teachings may be at fault and I cannot conscientiously preach what is false, as God knows I would not wilfully mislead my fellow-man. I am afraid I will be compelled to give up my position at once, and feel I am not fitted to do anything else." He then glanced at the practitioner and said, "Mrs. White, can you offer me any advice?"