Article March 29, 1913 Issue

TRUE KINSHIP

LUCY HAYS EASTMAN.

The great Scriptural truth that there is but one Father-Mother of the universe, including man, leads to the logical conclusion that there is but one family; and since this family is the offspring of Spirit, it is composed of spiritual beings, all of whom are under the control of their one common parent. Moreover, the ties which unite this family are wholly spiritual, for God, as Mrs. Eddy has stated, "is man's only real relative on earth and in heaven" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 151). True kinship, then, has nothing at all to do with flesh and blood, but is dependent solely upon spiritual causation, the correlation of divine ideas. Between spiritual ties and what are termed mortal ties, there is necessarily a sharp line of demarcation, for the latter are based upon matter and are influenced by beliefs of both good and evil. Thus they can never be wholly pure so long as the permanency of a parent's love is mingled with fear, or the loyalty of a child's devotion is enslaved by personal obligation, for purity admits of no mixture of opposites.

All mortal ties spring from the false belief that life, truth, and intelligence are material, and it is this belief which is accountable for the bitter disappointments and woe which are so often connected with human relationship. It breaks the commandments of God and declares man to be the father of man, thus vainly attempting to divide the united family of Spirit into disconnected groups through a classification of unintelligent atoms. The mortal sense of relationship which is built upon this belief, makes for personal possession and selfish absorption, while continually seeking "mine" rather than "thine" under the name of self-respect or self-preservation. It is ignorant of the fact that all real being, including man, springs from and belongs to God. Furthermore, it would sweep away, with its personal sense of loyalty, the law of justice. Disregarding the right of individual dependence upon Principle, it often mistakes imposition for duty when dealing with its own kin, while perhaps proudly rejecting the same assistance if offered by a so-called outsider.

Again, by usurping the office of God's fatherhood, it would fix burdens upon mortals, and keep them ever toiling for those "after their kind," oftentimes to receive in return only ingratitude and blighted hopes. It is this same mistaken sense which is tenderly devoted to the child of "my folks," while perchance cruelly neglecting another whose ancestors are "none of mine;" excusing the faults of one individual because he is "my brother," while sharply condemning those same faults in another if he be a strangerl Cruelly indeed does this mistaken sense partialize, victimize, and illegally domineer; and it is not strange, therefore, that Christ Jesus should have declared that whosoever would follow the true idea, must hate his erroneous concept of father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters; nor is it surprising that the spiritual idea, in demanding the first place in human affections, should come as a sword to the family of mortals and set it at variance.

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