Fire Prevention and Mental Climate Change

Living in the mountains of Colorado, I am very aware of the need to prevent and protect against wild fire.  I've cleared brush away from my house and used fire-resistant building materials when ever possible.  The current prolonged, dry, hot weather, which has created dangerous fire conditions in much of the American west, is suspected to be at least partially due to climate change.  While thinking about these issues - fire protection and climate change - I came across a statement the writer Mary Baker Eddy made in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures".  Referring to Biblical accounts of people escaping harm from fire, she wrote:

"Holy inspiration has created states of mind which have been able to nullify the action of the flames, as in the Bible case of the three young Hebrew captives, cast into the Babylonian furnace; while an opposite mental state might produce spontaneous combustion."

What states of mind are able to nullify the action of flames?  A clue is found in the Glossary section of Eddy's book, where she gives spiritual definitions of material things.  Spiritually viewed, Eddy saw fire as an expression of man's mental climate.  Her definition of fire reads:

"Fire.  Fear; remorse; lust; hatred; destruction; affliction purifying and elevating man."

Eddy's spiritual insight has led me to extend fire prevention efforts to my mental realm.  I'm working to trim away fear and remorse and dig up and remove lust and hatred from my thinking.  I'm purifying and elevating thoughts about myself and others without waiting for mental or physical fire to promote this spiritual growth.  The results?  I can't claim that my physical fire protection is improved by these steps (though perhaps it is), but I definitely see a change in my mental climate!

You can learn more about spiritual fire protection and mental climate change in Eddy's book.  Read "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" online or purchase it at major booksellers such as Amazon.  You can also read, borrow, or purchase the book at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado located at 4602 Plettner Lane.