Editorial June 15, 1940 Issue

Love, the Urgent Need

GEORGE SHAW COOK

Christians urged to pray for the establishment of world peace, and it is well that they should do so, but the question may pertinently be asked, How can Christians pray effectually for the peace of the world unless they have first demonstrated peace in their own experience? Understanding of God—universal divine Love-as the source of true inward peace is the first step in the direction of bringing to mankind the outward manifestations of peace and harmony. One who is consciously aware of the omnipresence of universal Love cannot possibly be engaged in the unloving and unlovely business of hating.

It is evident that the Apostle Paul saw the need for a greater degree of love and unity among the members of the primitive Christian churches. He wrote in his epistle to the Galatians as follows: "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And, as if to warn them of the dire results of dissension and strife, he continued, "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another."

Christian Science teaches that hatred, envy, jealousy, distrust, and discord result from belief that there are many minds. The remedy for discordant conditions, whether they appear to exist in churches, families, or other groups, is found in recognition of the actual oneness, allness, and consequent universality of divine Mind, the source of all true, good, righteous, unified thinking. Workers in any good cause should, therefore, be willing and glad to be governed in their contact with one another by the Christ-mind—that Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus," as Paul declared.

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