Echoing evil or honoring God?

PERHAPS all of us, at one time or another, have felt trapped in a conversation that was useless or counterproductive. It often seems as if people love to retell an accident or to recite the symptoms of some popular disease. Those listening are supposed to nod their heads in total agreement and echo the lament with a dreary ``yeah.'' But there is something more meaningful we can do! We don't have to stand by helplessly while the conversation drifts down to a useless recounting of difficulties. Even in casual conversation we can intelligently turn to God. God is the only genuine source of progress and intelligence. Mentally listening for His pure thoughts, we can gain a healing view of the trouble being rehearsed, a view that acknowledges the supreme power of God and the actual nature of man as His blessed offspring, always safe in His care. But we must practice turning to our creator. The Psalmist had a clear understanding that one's daily thoughts and words were not to be mere echoes of evil. He prayed, ``Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.'' 1 Of course, the Bible is not urging us to ignore blindly the challenges before us. Problems need to be thoughtfully, prayerfully, confronted. If we want to be truly loving and unselfish, we will seek to remedy, not replay, difficulties. More and more our words and actions can be inspired by God. We can learn that God is infinite intelligence, always supplying His children with wisdom and inspiration. As we apply our divinely derived insights, healing solutions emerge, disease and disaster are mitigated and averted. We might think of this statement by the great Teacher, Christ Jesus, as the standard to follow in our conversations. He said, ``The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.'' 2 Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, referring to the Master: ``He was inspired by God, by Truth and Love, in all that he said and did.'' 3 And elsewhere she says, ``He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved, not by spirits but by Spirit.'' 4 Each of us can follow in some small measure the example set by Jesus and be moved by Spirit instead of mortal personalities. We need not be governed by the fatalism and pessimism that spring from the human mind. God, who is divine Mind, is causing His offspring to express dominion, not defeatism. So it's natural to voice hope instead of despair. It is always the influence of evil, sometimes subtle and sometimes aggressive, that would have us be unthinking advocates for that which opposes God's harmonious government. It simply isn't our true nature to deny God's loving control over His creation. God is continuously blessing man with the ability to see and express harmony. God's creation is ``very good,'' as we're told in Genesis. Therefore our creator has not authored disease, accident, or any other trouble. And because He hasn't, we can deal with troubles through prayer. This isn't escapism; it's practical truth, a divine demand. God has made man to be productive, not to stagnate in a pool of redundancy. When we are endeavoring to turn to the truth of God's creation, we find His love showing us how to elevate a purposeless conversation. We may be led to change the subject gently, to graciously terminate the conversation, or to remain silent. In any case we need never stand by as an ignorant echo. We can increasingly depend on the truth of God's omnipotence and evil's consequent impotence. And we will be blessed by our efforts to respond to truth. As Mrs. Eddy puts it, ``If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and conversation, you can finally say, `I have fought a good fight . . . I have kept the faith,' because you are a better man.'' 5 It's natural for us to advocate healing progress and intelligent resolutions; to conquer rather than restate limitations. Let's express the wisdom and courage to honor God in our conversations instead of being mere echoes of evil. 1 Psalms 19:14. 2 John 14:10. 3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 51. 4 Ibid., p. 20. 5 Ibid., p. 21.

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