Article August 14, 2006 Issue

THE WAY OF LOVE PAYS ALL OUR DEBTS

BY ELAINE FOLLIS

DEBTS HAVE BEEN AROUND for a long time. In fact, they are as old as history itself. There's a certain universality about them, too. Rich people, poor people, people in the middle, all have debts. (And some of those debts are about money!)

A debt is, by definition, an obligation, something one person owes to another. To get a handle on debt as a concept, it's important to expand one's sense of it beyond a strictly financial context. While some debts may be monetary, others have to do with commitment of time, with caring, with exclusivity, with respect.

There are some debts that last forever. Primary among them is the debt to God—which is a good thing. The Psalmist exhorts, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name" (Ps. 96:8). Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, wrote, "So dear, so due, to God is obedience,that it reaches high heaven in the common walks of life, and it affords even me a perquisite of joy" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 189).