An attendant in a Christian Science Reading Room glanced up from her work one day to see a large, dilapidated-looking truck being parked outside the door. Two long-haired, bearded young men got out. As they walked away, one said to the other, "Christian Science Reading Room. I sure don't believe in them!"

The attendant's first reaction was one of mingled amusement at the remark and exasperation at the young's sloppy appearance. Almost immediately, however, came the realization that to be consistent with the spiritual thinking she had just been doing she would have to get a better view of these young people.

She had been working with the verse from Genesis that reads, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." ^{Gen. 1:31;} Earlier in the same chapter is found the statement that God had made man in His image and likeness. The logical conclusion was that man was good; not just some but all were included in this goodness. In connection with this she had also turned to Mrs. Eddy's statement in Science and Health: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." ^{Science and Health, pp. 476, 477;} Her work had been to see each individual as an instance of this perfect man, as an orderly idea, receptive to all that is good and pure. With joy she acknowledged that outward appearance or uncomprehending remarks could never keep these two young men from being a cherished and needed part of God's creation.

A few minutes later they reappeared, this time in the entry to the Reading Room. To all appearances they were attempting a minor act of vandalism involving the honor rack for The Christian Science Monitor. With the thought that man is neither unloved nor unloving, the attendant opened the door and asked them if they would like to come in. "No, ma'am," was the immediate response, "we don't believe in you."

"Oh, that's too bad," she answered, "because we believe in you!"

There was a startled silence, followed by an obviously delighted laugh. No more was said, but as the two young men were preparing to drive away, they smiled and raised their hands in a friendly farewell.

As the attendant returned to her desk, she thought of those words she had so spontaneously uttered: "We believe in you!" In all honesty, she wondered, do today's adults really believe in modern youth? In one of the Pastoral Epistles of the New Testament Paul tells young Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth." ^{I Tim. 4:12;} Do we help our young people live up to the Biblical standard of dominion and self-respect by admitting that they are the beloved children of God regardless of outward appearance or overt action? Or do we set them apart, seeing them as irresponsible, unreasonable, and immature? Are we seeing man as young, old, or middle-aged, having the qualities corresponding to the age bracket in which we have mentally placed him? Then we are not seeing man, for Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Man in Science is neither young nor old." ^{Science and Health, p. 244;}

The qualities that characterize man's true being are ageless. Can we honestly date love, intelligence, integrity, and joy? These qualities belong to all. They are spiritual and eternal because they come from God. Man does not express a young, old, or middle-aged concept of God, and God does not create a young, old, or middle-aged image of Himself. Thus we must believe in man as neither young nor old but as possessing all that is good and beautiful now.

If we are to understand man correctly, we must see that there can be no generation gap, no lack of communication between God's ideas. True communication is not from mortal to mortal; rather, the one divine Mind perpetually expresses itself in right ideas. Man, as the image of Mind, God, is receptive to these ideas.

Divine Principle, God, is the only communicator of integrity and loving-kindness. For this reason there can be no misunderstanding between God's children.

So often the news media present us with a negative picture of today's young people. We see and hear accounts of rebellion, violence, insubordination, and immorality. How do we react to these reports? Do we accept a stereotype as true of all individuals? Do we ever stop to think, as we view, criticize, and condemn, that only mortal mind can see error and then repeat it as fact and make a reality of it? Mortal mind, as we learn in Christian Science, is nothing, since the one divine Mind is All. We cannot afford to let mortal mind make false reports regarding man, nor can we afford to let mortal mind, calling itself our mind, accept these reports.

How can we help today's young men and women realize their spiritual selfhood and learn to express it constructively? Before we can take any successful human steps, we must first establish in our own thinking a right concept of man in God's likeness. We will then see what is loving and lovable in our youth, recognize their search for goals they can attain and attitudes they can respect.

Today's young people want to be where the action is, and this action is frequently expressed in a real concern for their fellowmen. This is really pure Christianity at work, even though it is often expressed in a manner foreign to the experiences of their parents and teachers. We must be careful not to condemn opinions and methods simply because they differ from what we are used to. Mrs. Eddy believed in youth, for she said, "While age is halting between two opinions or battling with false beliefs, youth makes easy and rapid strides towards Truth." ^{p. 236;}

Young people are quick to see the hypocrisy of those who claim to believe in man created in God's image but act as if some people do not fall into this category. We cannot halt between two opinions regarding man. We must be honest and consistent in our attitudes if we are to help our young people commit themselves to the greatest action of all, that of which Christ Jesus spoke when he said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." ^{John 13:35.}

Thus our first step toward helping and understanding today's youth is to see each one as he really is, a loved idea of God, reflecting only right ideas, acting only under the influence of one Mind. Then, as we clearly see this true concept of man, we will not be tempted to despise anyone because of his youth. Instead, we will find practical ways to help and encourage our young people to live their lives in such a manner that we can joyfully say to them, "We believe in you!"