Article March 12, 1990 Issue

Breaking away

When I am perplexed by questions about family life—decisions involving everything from business to personal choices, care of elderly members, or angst over a teenager—I sometimes recall these words written by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science: "To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice. The Word of God is a powerful preacher, and it is not too spiritual to be practical ..." (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mary Baker Eddy).

I realize that I probably need to get my thought and motives much closer to the example of Christ Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount. To me, what Jesus taught says again and again, "God is Love. Our Father loves every one of His children. We can love each other. Man is upright. Life rightly includes healing and casting out sin."

From a family standpoint, I've always felt that at the center of Jesus' teaching is the parable of the two sons in the Gospel of Luke. It's almost a distillation of Christian love and law, given by an eyewitness named Jesus.

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