Counteracting chaos and disorder
US President Abraham Lincoln stated in his annual message to Congress in 1862: “No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. . . . The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”
Watching the events unfold at the Capitol in Washington, DC Wednesday afternoon made one thing clear. There’s a ceaseless need for the values of honor, decency, respect, and pursuit of the common good that Lincoln’s message commended. Broadminded, selfless acts of individual leaders throughout history have inspired peace and progress. And they have contributed profoundly to the freedoms we cherish today.
When facing chaos and anger, Christ Jesus stood with divine Truth. This Truth, this divine, Father-Mother presence, was the spiritual power that motivated his every action and established divine law and spiritual authority. It enabled him to face down ignorance, misunderstanding, and desperation. The stability and constancy of God’s intelligent goodness is present now and can be seen and demonstrated in every situation.
What God is and does counteracts the chaos, disorder, prejudice, and self-interest that would corrupt individuals and disable governments. As Mark Sappenfield, Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, said in his podcast “A spiritual response to political division and upheaval,” there is no material solution to division, as we’ve seen over the past few years. But the good news is that the solution is in each of us as children of God.
We can let peace begin with each of us, right where we are.
This highlights the need for daily prayer that affirms the absolute and forever presence of God, divine Love, the foundation on which freedom for all rests. Prayer for government that is inclusive of every citizen begins with the allness of God’s power, the all-encompassing divine goodness and justice, and the unity of God with each individual. It affirms the true nature of each of us as God’s spiritual expression. It negates and nullifies any supposed legitimacy of evil, danger, harm, and discord.
Holding in our own hearts the qualities we want to see exhibited in our government and living them in our lives is effective prayer. This prayer supports and elevates society. It arrests self-seeking, self-interested motivations and embraces the wisdom and goodness of God as divine Principle and unchanging Truth. American Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer of Christian Science and Founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, stated in 1900 that among “the most imminent dangers confronting the coming century” were “the claims of politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and insufficient freedom of honest competition; and ritual, creed, and trusts in place of the Golden Rule, ‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’ ” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 266).
She recognized that the foundation of universal brother- and sisterhood required a spiritual basis: “namely, one God, one Mind, and ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ the basis on which and by which the infinite God, good, the Father-Mother Love, is ours and we are His in divine Science” (Miscellany, p. 281).
Praying is not about ignoring world events or conflict, but about going up higher—elevating our thinking to recognizing what God is doing, now. We can let peace begin with each of us, right where we are, when we hold a purely spiritual view of all, especially those who we feel are at fault. Our unselfish actions and prayers do not excuse anyone’s wrongdoing or smooth it over; they strengthen the expression of integrity everywhere and foster individual acts of love and peace.
As we live the qualities we want to see exhibited in our nations, we are doing our part to elevate the collective consciousness that yearns for a solution to injustice. We hold in our hearts even those with whom we disagree. Living this spirit of Christ and striving to see others the way God sees them takes the life out of fear, turmoil, and hatred. We begin to see our fellow men and women as the direct outcome and expression of divine Love.
The fact is, no division or conflict can disrupt God’s government of all. Nothing can take away humanity’s God-given, eternal gifts of freedom and peace. As we dedicate ourselves to living our prayers, we can each experience this great blessing now.
Larissa Snorek, Associate Editor
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sentinel.christianscience.com/the-golden-rule-and-peace-on-earth
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