Article January 19, 1981 Issue

Stilling complaint

JAMAE WOLFRAM RICHARDSON

Chronic faultfinding is not only unpleasant for others; it often brings physical discomfort. But neither positive thinking nor apathy about pressing difficulties really stills complaint. Much more is needed.

What stills complaint is the understanding that God, all good, the creator of all, neither produces nor allows evil. We all are His offspring; and His child, or idea, can't be a cause of grievance, a victim of it, or a complainer about it. To pierce the pretense of evil, we must discern its nothingness; this is to handle evil scientifically, to destroy it. And where must we do this? In the quiet of our own consciousness, through communion with God.

Christian Scientists don't ignore evil and its often tragic deceptions. But evil can't be defeated with materialistic weapons or on the basis that it is actual or powerful. We overcome evil only from the standpoint that it is illegitimate, impotent, and unreal because not of God. Evil has no life, nor can it destroy Life, since God is the only Life. Evil isn't intelligent; it totally lacks the validity of Truth. It can only destroy itself, which inevitably happens when it isn't believed to be real and personal. So we needn't react to evil with blame, disgust, hatred, or fear.

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