By now, most of the world knows about the false nuclear missile alert that was issued this past Saturday in Hawaii and which unleashed such panic and fear on those affected by it.

The cause?

At the beginning of the morning shift, a presumably intelligent employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sat at their computer to initiate a scheduled internal missile alert test—something that was supposed to only test the system, nothing more.  They opened the drop-down menu to see two choices: “Test missile alert” and “Missile alert.”

They were supposed to pick the first, but chose the second—even though they knew better.

It all happened in a matter of moments.

Just moments!  And we know the result.

“So, how could this possibly happen?” you may be asking.

Perhaps they were distracted by something there, or maybe they had something else on their thought.  We’ll probably never know the specifics.

What is important, however, is that we recognize that the “cause” was the carnal mind or mortal mind, which for that brief moment had mesmerized that person’s thought.

A moment that achieved its goal: pandemonium!

Maybe you’re thinking: “OK—that’s all very interesting, but what’s the take-away for us?”

Well, once again, I’m glad you asked!

We need to be praying without ceasing to stay awake and alert to mortal mind’s constant effort to keep us asleep in the dream of life and intelligence in matter, of separation from God.  A hypnotic state that would have us constantly making wrong choices based on the utterly false evidences of the material senses—senses that are always, and under every circumstance, liars.

Senses that Mary Baker Eddy declared “…originate and support all that is material, untrue, selfish, or debased,” and whose intent is to “…put soul into soil, life into limbo, and doom all things to decay.” (Science and Health, p. 318)

And each of us who are Christian Scientists are not only responsible to stay alert through prayer, but we are fully capable of doing so if—if—we’re relying on our God-given innate spiritual senses.  Senses that include spiritual vision, discernment, perception, comprehension, judgment, and understanding.

Senses that by their very awareness of the ever-presence of God shine a spotlight on the error lurking in the dark places of thought.  On evil in all its forms and subtleties.  On the whisperings of the serpent.

On the fog and confusion of Genesis 2!

Mrs. Eddy lovingly warned us, in no uncertain terms:

Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to God too fervently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the lives of mortals. (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 114)

It doesn’t get much clearer than that!

So, which choice on the drop-down menu will you select?  Clarity or confusion?

Truth or error?