Sentinel Watch September 30, 2013 Issue

'Let there be no strife'

Melanie H. Ball

“Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee … for we be brethren,” said Abraham to his nephew Lot in a dispute over land and resources (Genesis 13:8). In a similar vein, Christ Jesus taught his followers, “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him” (Matthew 5:25).

The discord and division so prevalent in the Middle East and in many corners of the world—between tradition and modernity, extremists and moderates, tyranny and freedom—call the world to wise and merciful prayer. And the lives and teachings of Abraham and Jesus provide us with a genuine road map to peace, for both exemplify forgiveness in the face of envy, bitterness, and revenge.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, describes the tendency of strongly held beliefs and opinions to separate humanity into warring factions in this way: “Finite belief … seeks to divide the one Spirit into persons and souls. 