Article October 8, 1984 Issue

Active loving—never passive or judgmental

JULIE CRANDALL FOSKETT

"Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object,"^{Science and Health, p. 248.} writes Mrs. Eddy. Imagine a love that never loses sight of the loveliness in others, not even momentarily! Such a nonstop love would certainly have no provision for passive withholding because of indifference or disagreement.

Does such loving seem impossible for "mere mortals" to achieve? Christian Science, drawing upon the Bible, teaches that man is not mortal. He is the spiritual idea of God, of infinite and divine Love, and he expresses God's loving nature. He exists as the reflection of Love, with its ongoing, impartial, spiritual activity. Divine Love through the Christ is always asserting itself in our lives to be known and felt. And this is why it is always natural for us to love and unnatural to resist this divine impulsion by withholding love.

What's happening, then, when we feel a cessation or absence of love, when passiveness sets in and we do seem to lose sight of loveliness? Being passive, according to Webster, involves being "acted upon; affected by outside force or agency," and "receiving or enduring without resistance." This surely describes the mesmeric condition brought on when we allow evil to manipulate our thinking. Evil would prevent Love's perpetual loving from being perceived humanly. It suggests that we are unable to witness Love's action—to love or feel loved. This suggestion often leads to personal criticism and condemnation, which are really forms of hating. Such mesmerism should be recognized for what it is—a denial of God's goodness and of man's identity as the expression of good.

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