Article September 6, 1982 Issue

Let's heal, not condemn

HUBERTA F. RANDALL

How can we help overcome the evil in the world? Perhaps we should first ask, What is evil? To answer this we have to think back to the origin of all things, for the nature of the First Cause, or God, necessarily determines the nature of its creation. Since God is wholly good, it must follow that only good is divinely real. In her article "One Cause and Effect" Mrs. Eddy writes, "According to reason and revelation, evil and matter are negation: for evil signifies the absence of good, God, though God is ever present; and matter claims something besides God, when God is really All."^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 27.}

Crime, one of the worst forms of evil, certainly finds no place in the allness of good. In spite of the prevalence of crime reported today, it is and can only be a negation. The term "criminal" is a negation of the God-created man we all actually are. The criminal, victimizing others, becomes the victim of a lie about man. All that God creates reflects His majesty, strength, and purity; and His complete reflection—"image" as the Bible calls it—is man.

What a tragedy occurs when one acts as a criminal! In writing of the sinner, Mrs. Eddy explains, "He is joining in a conspiracy against himself,—against his own awakening to the awful unreality by which he has been deceived."^{Science and Health, p. 339.} What healing compassion we should have for the individual who is deluded by such a misunderstanding of his true identity. And are we entirely without guilt if we go along with this misconception instead of doing all we can to clear it up? We can reverse the error and start with ourselves to correct or strengthen our concept of man.