Article December 22, 1980 Issue

God's favorites

DORIS MERCIA MILLAR

When I was a child, I felt unloved by parents because my brother was the favorite; but I was somewhat comforted to know that I was the favorite niece of one of my aunts. This often seems to be the pattern of existence—we seem to be the sport of chance, sometimes up, sometimes down. And I certainly did not feel that I was one of God's favorites. I saw Him in the somewhat manlike role of favoring some of His children more than others.

This view of God does nothing for humanity, though it is widely held. During World War II, after a youth in which disappointment and disillusionment had played a large part, I suddenly remembered a book I had read in my early teens that has thoroughly impressed me. So I went straight to a Christian Science Reading Room and bought Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy. I read it again, and avidly, in every spare moment I had. Soon my whole life was changed, and later I became a member of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist.

From this book, the textbook of Christian Science, I learned that God is Love, though it was a long time before I began to appreciate the full implications of that marvelous and practical statement. In fact I am still learning. I found I had a great deal to unlearn. Years earlier I had accepted the doctrine that God intends us to suffer, and that some people, like myself, seem to get more than their share of suffering. This theory was based on the conception of God in the role of a stern earthly father instead of infinite Love, infinite Spirit, as we are taught in Christian Science. "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity,"^{Hab. 1:13;} Habakkuk tells us of God. Consequently, God knows only His own pure image, man