"Be kindly affectioned"

EDITH BAILEY

"Divine Love, understood, is evidenced in
kindly affection...to all mankind"

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul gave wise counsel that we can ponder prayerfully and act upon practically. He wrote (Rom. 12:10), "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love." What is our understanding of love? Do we practice what we understand? The nature of love cannot be understood through human intellectualism; it cannot be regarded as a cold abstraction. Christian Science teaches that some of the God-derived elements which constitute love are kindness, gentleness, unselfishness, goodness, purity, and forbearance.

To be worthy of the name, love as a quality must evidence the nature of Love, God, who is also Truth. It is impossible to love truly and at the same time to entertain untruthful thinking about our fellowmen. Mere emotionalism is a poor counterfeit of love and must not be mistaken for it. Emotionalism fluctuates because it has no actual foundation. It may at any moment change to an opposite mortal mind quality called hatred. Real love, on the other hand, is steadfast, constant, invariable.

The love that we are to cultivate, to cherish, to keep aglow in our hearts and make practical, is the universal love that is the pure reflection of divine Love. On page312 of "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy points out in beautiful, forceful phraseology the nature of love: "Oh, may the love that is talked, be felt! and so lived, that when weighed in the scale of God we be not found wanting. Love is consistent, uniform, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, unutterably kind; even that which lays all upon the altar, and, speechless and alone, bears all burdens, suffers all inflictions, endures all piercing for the sake of others, and for the kingdom of heaven's sake."

In the degree that divine Love is enthroned in consciousness, one is free from the temptation to criticize unkindly. Harsh criticism is a rank weed that, if not uprooted, will smother the blossoms of humility, gratitude, and affection. An indulgence of the temptation to criticize egotistically cannot be passed over lightly. It must be dealt with vigorously and persistently, or it may reappear after the first uprooting.

Mrs. Eddy, in her Message to The Mother Church for 1900, said (p. 8), "As in the floral kingdom odors emit characteristics of tree and flower, a perfume or a poison, so the human character comes forth a blessing or a bane upon individuals and society." Divine Love, understood, is evidenced in kindly affection not only to our co-workers in the home, in the office, in the church, but to all mankind.

Mortal mind, or what Paul designated as the carnal mind, in its attempts to oppose divine Love would objectify itself, if it could, as gossip, talebearing, falsifying, and so forth. Our study of Christian Science helps us to understand that if we make it a rule never to repeat an unkind comment about our fellowmen until we have thoroughly nullified it as a reality in our own thought, we shall never be a bearer of destructive criticism.

You may ask, "Is this rule to be followed if I am aware of indiscretions on the part of some coworker and feel that the proper officials should be informed of it?" This is an occasion for the demonstrating of wisdom. If through our study of the Bible and of Science and Health and the other writings of Mrs. Eddy we have come to the correct understanding of God and man, then we know that man is not a mortal and cannot express error. The Christly influence of this prayerful work may result in error's being so completely destroyed that there will be nothing to report. Or if this result is not achieved, the report will not be about an erroneous person but about an erroneous suggestion, already wiped out of one's own consciousness and therefore having no sting or bitterness.

In "We Knew Mary Baker Eddy," First Series (p. 74), the writer describes thus the love our Leader manifested: "I always feel that the secret of her great achievements could be explained on no other basis than her at-one-ment with God and her boundless spirit of universal love for all mankind." Let us ask ourselves, "Am I improving every opportunity consciously to reflect God's love for man?" In love for God and in recognition of His love for us, we cannot fail to "be kindly affectioned one to another."

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Christian Science in School Affairs

February 10, 1962

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