Article March 12, 1966 Issue

Faults or Facts

VIOLA C. ROWE

When through the study of Christian Science, we begin to glimpse the magnitude of God's love for us, we naturally begin to love Him, and our love increases with the unfoldment of spiritual understanding. It is also natural for us to express this love to those with whom we come in contact in our daily lives. Ultimately our affections and prayerful daily work reach out and touch the lives of all mankind.

Christ Jesus stressed the necessity to love all when he said (Matt. 22:37-39): "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The second great commandment may not always seem easy to observe, especially if we do not have a pure sense of love for ourselves. To human sense, we may seem at times to have more faults than virtues. As for our neighbor, we may be convinced that he does not deserve our affection or even want it, for he may be manifesting traits that are certainly not endearing and, perhaps, are even hateful.

Whether a disagreeable neighbor lives across the street, across state lines, across oceans, or even under our roof, there is always a spiritual fact with which to nullify error's seeming power to deceive or to disturb us. Spiritual facts are true for everyone, ourselves and our neighbors. Spiritual facts have nothing to do with nationalities or color of skin or lack of education or temperament. That which shows forth the perfect nature of our Father-Mother Love is always the fact of man. Intelligence, ability, love, purity, and all other Godlike qualities are facts. Since God has no faults, the real, God-created man has no faults, and the first chapter of Genesis states emphatically that God made man in His own image. We show true love for ourselves and our neighbors when we know that this perfect sonship is the truth and is the truth of everyone, regardless of what the physical senses may be reporting.

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