A Life of Harmony

Bringing a spiritual perspective to world events and daily life.

Make a joyful noise unto God,

all ye lands: sing forth

the honour of his name:

make his praise glorious.

Psalms 66:1, 2

Dissonant musical tones create unusual sounds. Sometimes they are purposely written into music to attain certain expression. But harmonious chords characterize so many great musical masterpieces. Highly atonal music usually takes a certain education to appreciate. On the other hand, most people typically demonstrate natural affinity for the concordant blending of notes, which often brings rest and solace.

Dissonance has a place in music. But discord in our lives is as unnatural as it is in God. And if I love God with all my heart and soul and mind, as the Bible exhorts me to do in Matthew (see 22:37), I must then reject trouble or evil or illness. I have found that as we discover how to love God supremely, we bring an increasing measure of harmony into daily living.

Believing that there is power apart from God, the divine Mind, is the source of human discord. This belief can create a detour, sometimes running through much of a lifetime, from following the natural attraction to the things of God. This diversion from knowing the spiritual keeps us from attaining the heights of Christian living. People may believe that some measure of discord is inevitable in life, but it is not desirable.

Now, the mere avoidance of inharmony through human effort is a never-ending task. We need to understand the things of God if we are to end discord. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, wrote these words in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet concord to sound" (p. viii).

If we are engrossed in materiality, we have little time left to devote to serving God. Healing is brought to troubled situations through a realization of the truth that God is good. Aligning thought and action with God's law, which Christian Science shows how to do, restores harmony, brings peaceable adjustment in human affairs, and heals physical disease.

Waiting for a moment before we speak or act, to determine how best to follow the example set by Christ Jesus, is a good way to begin bringing restoration and peace in times of turmoil. The Bible shows that the thought of Jesus was filled with mercy and compassion; that it was free of condemnation and false judgment. He condemned evil, never people, and so freed the sick and sinful to feel and act in better ways.

Harmony is the natural order of God and of His universe. Our showing evidence of anything opposed to the peace of God works against our well-being. Inharmony often comes in ways that trap us, through feelings of helplessness or discouragement. Understanding God as at once good and All is what shows discord to be impersonal and nothing. As we learn more and more of God, we naturally resist evil more and more.

The book of Psalms says, "I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly" (85:8). God, who is the sole communicator to us all, puts the spirit of peace into our hearts, words, and actions. Peace is His law. Recognizing this fact as having sole control over our lives restores harmony to us, even when things may have been disturbed for a long time.

What if you're saying, "I feel that I have only love in my heart for all, but other people have not yet come to feel the same way"? In such cases, we are not helpless to bring healing to a situation. Knowing that we all have the one Mind, God, and refusing to identify evil as part of any person, gives hope. This is how one can pray for and support others, replacing accusation with love. Loving God and His creation is the only way to find lasting harmony and to stop contributing to discord. This brings a measure of peace to a world crying out for healing.

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