From this week’s lesson:
12. 133
In national prosperity, miracles attended the successes of the Hebrews; but when they departed from the true idea, their demoralization began.
From Webster’s 1828:
DEMORALIZATION, noun The act of subverting or corrupting morals; destruction of moral principles.
DEMORALIZE, verb transitive To corrupt or undermine the morals of; to destroy or lessen the effect of moral principles on; to render corrupt in morals.
The effect would be to demoralize mankind.
The native vigor of the soul must wholly disappear, under the steady influence and the demoralizing example of profligate power and prosperous crime.
DISCOURAGE, verb transitive discurage. [dis and courage. See Courage.]
1. To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits; to deject; to deprive of confidence.
Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged. Colossians 3:21.
2. To deter from any thing; with from.
Why discourage ye the hearts of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? Numbers 32:7.
3. To attempt to repress or prevent; to dissuade from; as, to discourage an effort.
I always took demoralized to mean discouraged – in the sense of “I feel like giving up!” – but to know its meaning is “to destroy or lessen the effect of moral principles” gives me a much different understanding now. Without God in my life, I can have no morality, no Love, no Principle, and no courage. All that is left is false belief and fear, and to be the “expression of error.” (S&H, p. 289)
I am very grateful to this church and Christian Science for lifting us out of that error – de-error-ization – to a place where we can be useful to God. Thank you!