Article February 26, 1977 Issue

Man Includes All Right Ideas

GLADYS C. GIRARD

Becoming conscious of what man, as the son of God, has and is, can change one's whole sense of living. The prophet must have glimpsed something of this when he said, "A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."^{Isa. 32:2;} He did not say merely we shall have these things. What he did say was that we shall be them. Christ Jesus' statement "The kingdom of God is within you"^{Luke 17:21;} points to this same mighty spiritual fact. It shows that good is not something way off. It is not "out there." It is right at hand. Within. The real you and me, God's reflection, includes every right, spiritual idea.

For instance, peace is ours to confront the continual pressures of daily living. We can express sufficient love to counteract hatred in the world. Claiming the privacy of our God-given individuality can counteract a frustrated feeling of constant invasion of our thought. The spiritual sense of including all good as ours does not interfere with the fullness of another's life. There is no limitation in the realm of real being. Infinity is the only measure in the spiritual realm. This is where man, God's child, dwells.

At one time I was confronted with hatred on the part of a colleague. For the moment I felt totally at a loss about it, overwhelmed. But then I became conscious more deeply than ever before that I could express sufficient love to counteract any hatred, however extreme and unwarranted. With this sense of relief I went on my way and forgot the whole thing. Before the day was over, however, this individual went out of his way to come face to face with me and to express genuine love and good fellowship.

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