Article December 1, 1986 Issue

God's impartial love

In the give-and-take of daily life, too often the emphasis is on taking. But there is a higher basis for our relations with others— one that builds on the abundance of God's love for all.

Mary Barnes

Some countries seem to have advantages over others. In families it sometimes happens that one of the children receives preferential treatment, and this leads to jealousy and discontent among the others. Some groups in society seem more prosperous and financially secure—and thus it goes on. But God's impartial love, ceaselessly flowing, has no favored children; it continuously blesses all.

The recognition that we are all equally loved by divine Love, our only real Father-Mother, is especially needed in a world where so much inequity appears to prevail. The impartial nature of God's love has not always been generally appreciated, however. From the Old Testament we gather that it was customary for the eldest son in a family to be specially favored. So Jacob, Isaac's younger son, jealous of his elder brother's birthright, prevailed on his brother Esau to sell it to him. Later, by false pretense, Jacob obtained from his father the blessing intended for Esau. Still later, through great mental wrestling, Jacob's character was transformed.^{See Gen. 25:31-33; 32:24–30; 33:1–4 .} Examining the deeper implication of this Bible account in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mrs. Eddy observes that through the spiritual inspiration that came to him in his struggle, Jacob was able to see the fundamental error and be freed from it.^{See Science and Health 308:16–309:23 .} Perhaps in his wrestling he caught a glimpse of the power of divine Love. When we see that divine Love is the impartial source of all good, there is never any need to steal from one another.

Christ Jesus' parable of the prodigal son^{See Luke 15:11–32 .} can also be read as illustrating the futility of looking to another source than divine Love, the one divine Parent, for good. The younger of two sons thought he would find more happiness by leaving what must have been a good home. It was only after he had become an outcast, reduced to feeding swine in another man's field, that "he came to himself" and decided to return to his father's house, begging to be given the status of a servant. But what a wonderful welcome he had! His father ran to meet him and restored him to his place as a loved son. And when his elder brother succumbed to jealousy, seeing the fuss made over the prodigal's homecoming, the father reassured him also of his cherished status: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."

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