Article October 5, 1981 Issue

God's Mother-love can heal the world

ELVEY WILLIAM ALFRED BARTON

Mother love is the quality of thought that cares for, looks after, tends, and protects the object of its affection. The center of God's affection is His beloved child, made in His likeness. The Mother-love of God is the life of man. This life is eternal and uninterruptible. Man has all the love God gives, and God gives all the love man has. Mrs. Eddy observes, "As Elias presented the idea of the fatherhood of God, which Jesus afterwards manifested, so the Revelator completed this figure with woman, typifying the spiritual idea of God's motherhood."^{Science and Health, p. 562.}

The hungering heart needs the nutriment of love as parched land needs rain. The garden of thought must be watered so that it may blossom and bear the fruit of compassion for all mankind.

"A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal,"^{Ibid., p. 60.} writes Mrs. Eddy. These immortal qualities come from God and express the true Love for which the world longs. In families where this love is practiced, children are better equipped to cope with the adversities and frustrations they may encounter in the world. Those who, for one reason or another, have not had the advantage of this joyful experience may yearn for this bond that binds the human family together in brotherhood. In their search for this quality, they will be gently led to look to a higher than human source for succor and comfort—to understand divine Love, which enfolds all mankind in its tender embrace.