Universal brotherhood

THE immediate and the worldwide community in which each of us lives is in need of that Christlike love and understanding which alone can establish universal brotherhood on earth. Everyone shares the responsibility for expressing more of this love and understanding in everyday living. When a lawyer asked Christ Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asked the man what he felt the law said. The man replied, ``Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.'' Jesus approved the answer, but the lawyer, ``willing to justify himself,'' said, ``And who is my neighbour?'' The Master responded with a parable. He told of a man coming from Jerusalem whom thieves attacked, robbed, and left badly wounded. A priest and a Levite saw him and passed by. A man from Samaria, however, had compassion on him and took care of him. When the lawyer acknowledged that the good Samaritan was ``neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves,'' Jesus admonished him to go and do likewise.1 To fulfill one's responsibility to love genuinely is not easy in the complex world of today. But through respect for oneself and others, based on an understanding that everyone's real selfhood is the very likeness of God, ways open to further universal brotherhood. Daily prayer is an invaluable help in learning to understand God and man and thereby maintaining a genuine love for all mankind. Such prayer might well include a humble acknowledgment that God is infinite Love, the Principle of all existence, and that He lovingly governs man. By gaining a more spiritual concept of God and man, many are progressively overcoming the fear, distrust, prejudice, and so forth that foster conflict. Through reliance on Love as the source of all true being, they are expressing more and more God-derived courage, respect, and compassion, which promote brotherhood. This isn't a naive standpoint that ignores evil, but a deeply practical and Christian one that enables us to have a healing influence. Christian Science, which was discovered and founded by Mary Baker Eddy, shows us that if we regard all mankind lovingly, if we strive to perceive the true nature of everyone through prayer and loyalty to Jesus' teachings, we can expect to see more of that true nature expressed in others. Unselfishness and courteous consideration for our fellow beings bring a quiet sense of the brotherhood that already exists in truth, the brotherhood whose Principle is divine Love. Mrs. Eddy writes, ``True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection.'' 2 Today we have the opportunity to love rightly, realizing the loveliness and lovableness of God's creation. Through prayer we can gain the vision of everyone as actually brothers and sisters, having one Father-Mother God. This family knows no hate, envy, or aggression. Staying mentally on the spiritual heights of divine Love, we find protection from evil, because we realize that Love, in its infinitude, precludes the existence of evil. No discord can arise that Love's presence, deeply realized and felt,

cannot destroy. The prophet represents God as saying, ``Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.'' 3 To help bring to the people of all nations a knowledge of God, a knowledge that will unite them in brotherhood, our thoughts must reflect divine Love's thoughts. 1 See Luke 10:25-37. 2 No and Yes, p. 39. 3 Isaiah 60:18.

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