Our daily conversations about world news go on as if there is such a place as “over there,” far away from “here” and essentially unconnected to where we are. We hear news reports of war and even threats of global war. Sometimes it seems there is nothing we, “over here,” can do about what is going on, way “over there.”

The only prayer Jesus gave his followers, the Lord’s Prayer, makes clear that heaven and earth are not two different places. “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” was Jesus’ prayer of affirmation (Matt. 6:10). He was claiming that the divine harmony for everywhere “here” on earth is as present as it is everywhere “there” (in heaven). Or as Mary Baker Eddy put it in her interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, “Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is omnipotent, supreme” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 17).

When we think of God’s will as the one and only force, expressed as infinity, it follows that there is only one locality. There is no such place as “over there.” Here is the only locality, whether we call it heaven or earth, east or west, over here or over there. 

In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy referred to Life, meaning God, and intelligence as “purely spiritual” (p. 14). Since she also explained God as infinite Mind, we can conclude that this divine consciousness is all there is. Then a spiritual sense of heaven and earth includes both states of Mind. The question is: How do we translate that perfect, peaceful, loving condition to our thoughts about the world, reports of war, and other troubles that come our way?

I used to feel helpless when reading headlines of war. I knew I could pray, but I still felt that additional urge to do something. After I began to study Christian Science, I learned a lot more about prayer and what it can do. Prayer is a mental activity, and since the world is made up of everybody’s collective thought, prayer for peace and harmony can be proactive in turning people toward good.

If the world seems like an atmosphere of hate, acted out as war, how do we begin to change it? Isn’t the answer that we should watch what we think? Shouldn’t we each live the change we want to see? I believe we must. 

In this nuclear age, it is a serious matter of personal responsibility. If each one begins to love instead of hate, and insists on the reality and power of divine Love, everything can change. 

If each one begins to love instead of hate, and insists on the reality and power of divine Love, everything can change. 

Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was literally at hand. At one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. He said: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21). In other words, we don’t search for peace “out there” but within our own hearts and lives. 

A much loved and repeated song begins, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” What if each of us who sings and loves those words would consciously begin to accept personal responsibility for world peace? 

What if we each commit to daily ask ourselves, What did I contribute today? Was I cold or compassionate? Loving or unloving? Was I kind or critical? Patient or pressured? Anxious or calm? Joyful or irritable? Agreeable or disagreeable? Angry or peaceable? Cooperative or confrontational? What was my contribution to the universal consciousness today? 

Science and Health, the textbook of Christian Science, states, “The physical universe expresses the conscious and unconscious thoughts of mortals” (p. 484). To me, this means we have a responsibility to make sure our thoughts are as spiritually based as possible.

Given that my thoughts and your thoughts make up the universal atmosphere, we can each begin with peaceable thinking. If being cold, unloving , critical, pressured, anxious, irritable, disagreeable, angry, or confrontational is my contribution to the global atmosphere, how will peace on earth begin with me?

One day I determined to contribute peace to the mental atmosphere every day by being agreeable, loving, patient, and peaceable, no matter what challenge might appear. I consciously recognized that I already live in a peaceable kingdom, created by the divine Mind. Right away, everyday pressures and anxieties I was used to perceiving were not apparent. I saw that the peace I felt was directly in line with my peaceful intention. 

What are we thinking? Every local contribution has its global impact. Each of us can make the commitment to strive for peace in our hearts and thoughts. Since thought is the seed of the deed, what we think does matter. What can we each agree to contribute today?