Editorial June 19, 1948 Issue

THE IRREVERSIBLE BLESSING OF LOVE

L. Ivimy Gwalter

"He [God] hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it." These words ring with as much authority today as when originally spoken. The Bible narrates that Balak, the king of the Moabites, was much distressed because he feared the children of Israel who traversed his land. So he hired Balaam to come and curse them for him. Now it appears that Balaam, while not an Israelite, comprehended something of the power of God, although he believed in a God who wields both power to bless and power to curse. In disobedience to God he accepted Balak's call; later through disobedience he led the children of Israel into committing sin, which was the cause of his own downfall. Nevertheless, on this occasion he turned to God to know what he should speak. Twice this happened, and each time instead of cursing the Israelites he blessed them. When Balak remonstrated, he replied (Num. 23:19, 20): "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? ... Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it."

Centuries later the advent of Christ Jesus proved in full glory that Truth is its own enforcement and cannot be reversed. In witness of his sonship with God and with the meekness and might of spiritual obedience, he destroyed sin, healed the sick, overcame the aggressiveness of materialism, and conquered death. Unacknowledged and rejected by the worldly authority of his day, the kingdom of heaven which he preached and practiced remained inviolable, an irresistible animus leavening human thought. In the words of the Apostle Paul (II Cor. 13:8). "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."

Today Christian Science is revealing God as infinite, all-inclusive Love, embracing all creation within the magnitude of its infinitude. Since love is the nature of God, it is likewise the essence of God. Without love, God would not be God, for without love omnipotence would be self-destructive. Also, Love signifies the wholeness of God, for within God's infinitude there exists not the minutest element underived from Love. The nature of Love is to bless; indeed, the only power Love has is to bless, to hold all in the radiance of conscious perfection. Love, forever conscious of its own immaculate majesty, enfolds its idea in perfectness and harmony.

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