Editorial September 16, 1972 Issue

The Practicality of Family Life

Alan A. Aylwin

As a valid institution the conventional human family is being challenged as never before. The social map is being radically altered, and the resulting unrest is raising honest questions in many minds. One extreme view is that the family, as we know it, may not survive this century.

But no matter how we may look at the institution itself, its meaning and goal remain of vital interest. At some point in his experience, and in some form, it has touched the life of nearly everyone. It therefore deserves a close and careful examination in the healing light Christian Science throws on human institutions. This Science affirms the value of the family unit, and aids in preserving its stability by showing us how to lift thought above divisive human traits and foibles. Through study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings we gain a clearer understanding of the real man's loving, spiritual nature, of his place in the family of God, the Father and Mother of all.

As children of God, each and every one of us has a common designation, a universal heritage. We all belong to one family and have but one family name. Mrs. Eddy says, "Man is the family name for all ideas,—the sons and daughters of God."^{ Science and Health, p. 515;} You and I, then, are man, God's spiritual harmonious reflection, and as individual expressions of true manhood we exist forever in perfect unity and concord within the oneness and allness of creative divine Mind.