Article January 14, 1985 Issue

Helping others

RALPH BYRON COPPER

From the beginning of time, people have been trying to figure out how to relate to one another. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Gen. 4:9. they keep asking. In other words, What is my duty to my fellowman and to mankind as a whole? How can I, like the good Samaritan, help someone in practical ways without infringing on his freedom or mine?

Christian Science, through the teachings of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy, has aided many in their daily contacts. For example, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible." Science and Health, p. 514. The fact that all of God's creations are useful is the spiritual rationale for our loving and helping our brother, our neighbor, our enemy—for doing good to one and all. Such help expresses, in some measure, God's care of man, made in His image and likeness. It constitutes true Christian living, whereby "we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." II Cor. 1:4.

Sharing with another the comfort we feel from God—perhaps by forgiving a friend's mistake, running an errand for the next-door neighbor, volunteering for a civic project, or by doing the thousand and one things that make for happy, honest relations—such sharing not only is a useful thing to do; it's an unselfish way to live. The rule "Love thy neighbour" finds its climax in the phrase "as thyself." Lev. 19:18. It is this second half that makes the rule truly divine. To love another as oneself demonstrates the basis of unselfishness to be divine Love. It expresses the character of God. "Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light," Science and Health, p. 516. states Science and Health.

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What shall we do?
January 14, 1985
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