Article March 15, 1975 Issue

Isn't There Something We Can Do?

DEBORAH APPLETON HUEBSCH

What would you do if you saw a shabby, dirty, drunken man staggering through a city park, yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs? My immediate response was to turn away in total disgust. Then I remembered that I was Christian Scientist. As a committed follower of Christ Jesus I had enlisted to love my neighbor. Disgust and Christian love are opposites.

Deep down, don't we all yearn to reach out and help a friend who is in trouble, a relative who might be in the hospital, or a drunk stumbling down the street? We can, of course, give encouragement and comfort to those who are struggling. Sometimes a visit, a card, or a few kind words can help and cheer them. It's often frustrating, however, to feel there is nothing really substantial we can do to help them be healed—or is there?

Although we may wish the troubled people we know or come in contact with were having help through prayer in Christian Science, we can't give them treatment unless it is specifically requested. (To do so without permission would be to invade an individual's privacy and would not be in accord with this Science.) But our spiritual understanding of man's inherent and inviolable perfection can help bring healing. We don't have to stand by helplessly, wishing there was something we could do.

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Friends of Jesus
March 15, 1975
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