Toward Growing Unity

ON this fiftieth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the world could hardly be more different. Back then, a world war was in progress, and suspicion was rampant even among those who were, or would soon be, allies.Now we're seeing in some ways a growing unity of purpose. When we think of the recent abortive Russian coup, for instance, it becomes clear that the world's united rejection of the attempt made an enormous difference. The willingness to work together will do much to forward mankind's progress as we head into the twenty-first century. Yet individual and collective advances come not just through a human desire to achieve good--although that is certainly admirable. We need also to work from the deeper, spiritual basis on which Christ Jesus operated. The foundation of his teachings is that God, divine Mind, is Love. This concept of God as Love itself and of man as Love's offspring brings us together more effectively than anything else. Jesus' prayers cut through divisions. He understood that divine Love is ever present to mend the human body as well as to provide unity of purpose. And he proved this as he worked with the disciples. He took this motley crew, with widely divergent backgrounds, and ultimately molded the eleven faithful ones into a group of people who would bravely set out to convert the world to a higher understanding of God's love than had ever been known before. Jesus taught--and proved--that man is truly spiritual. He is not a material mortal, warring with other mortals for finite resources or territory. As the beloved son of God, man has full access to divine Love and all its goodness. Each of us can know and experience this Love. And, in fact, we can tell if we are really living in harmony with God, with good, if we are willing and able to love our fellow beings. The Bible tells us in First John: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and eve ry one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Recognizing also that God is the one divine Mind, and that the intelligence of divine Mind is ours to express, we can expect to find wise solutions to problems in our work, our families, our lives. And we'll be guided intelligently in our prayers for the nations, finding evidence that even world events will yield to prayer. For example, not long ago there were major troubles in an African nation, and some friends of mine and I felt great concern about the welfare of people we knew in one particular city. Individually we looked to the one Mind, praying to know that God was present and that He was and is divine Love. In a matter of hours, the news reports on this situation took a more hopeful turn. Clearly, many people--including the citizens living in that city--were praying diligently for a peaceful outcome, and the progress we learned of illustrated to a degree that such prayers make a difference. This occurs because our willingness to turn to a higher power and seek God's guidance helps bring to light evidence of the love Christ Jesus knew so well. When we truly turn to Love, God, we must of necessity begin to give up stubbornness or anger. We are trying instead to see our world--or some aspect of our personal lives--from a spiritual perspective. The unifying effect of this resort to spirituality and love enables us to love our enemies even as we are searching for answers that will meet our own and others' needs. This approach does help us individually. The same week that I and my friends prayed for the Africans, I had had a very pressured day and was suffering from a severe headache. At the end of the day, I still had several hours' worth of errands to do. I longed to be able to go home where I could be quiet. Then I remembered that God is ever present and that I could turn to Him in prayer. I did this, affirming that the true nature of my being is spiritual and that pain has no power over Love's man. I also reached out in prayer to my fellow beings, claiming this goodness for all. As I did this, I found that the headache completely disappeared. And in addition to completing my after-work errands, I was able to do chores at home for several hours before going to bed for a normal night's rest. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in her Miscellaneous Writings: "More love is the great need of mankind. A pure affection, concentric, forgetting self, forgiving wrongs and forestalling them, should swell the lyre of human love. Each of us has the power to love more because it is the nature of our being--our actual spiritual identity--to love fully and freely. As we do this, we will find greater healing of past divisions and more hope for the future. Our desire for a united, peaceful world will not rest on chance. Nor will it be dependent on allies who may or may not be faithful. Instead, we will be trusting in the one God as Christ Jesus did--and we will be seeing the unifying results of that prayer in our lives and in our worl d.

BIBLE VERSE Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law... Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8, 10