Article February 18, 1905 Issue

Loving our Brother

MYRTIE A. TENNY

I Was much impressed at a recent testimonial meeting by the statement that it sometimes seems much easier to love our enemies than to love each other, and the thought came to me why this is so. We are striving to live in the one Mind, as we are taught in Christian Science, and this brings us into a closeness of mental touch with our brothers of which we little dreamed in the past. Each one stands forth without disguise, as it were. Our opportunities are thus enlarged for knowing the faults of those nearest to us, and, with all our desire to be good and true, it seems easier sometimes, through the uncovering of error, to see faults than to discover virtues. We little realize how much we demand of each other, how we look for perfection in our brother and forget that we ourselves are far from perfect. Until we are perfect we have no right to demand perfection in others, however much we may hope for and anticipate it. These conditions and close relations do not pertain to our enemies, they are not subjected to the same close and constant scrutiny, and hence their objectionable features are not so carefully noted and thought upon.

When we learn to love as Jesus loved, and see only the perfect man, we shall love both our enemies and our friends. Christian Science reveals and casts out all evil, destroying envy, malice, jealousy, self-seeking, and strife. It is helpful to think of our own imperfection when the shortcomings of another seem very apparent. It is well to ask ourselves if we are sure that we could do better under like circumstances. If we are keeping our own thought-gardens free from noxious weeds, our time will be fully occupied and we shall not be tempted to criticise others. Our Leader's counsel given in "Miscellaneous Writings," page 224, is wonderfully helpful in dealing with these problems.

Perfection is not gained easily nor quickly, but through constant watchfulness and prayer. We each come into Christian Science with all our personal peculiarities, faults of temperament, and disabilities of environment, but if we come with the honest and sincere desire to be better and do better, we shall drop these "grounds of offence" one by one, as we would discard any unworthy habit as soon as it is discovered.

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