The Christ is not bullied
As a child, did you ever tell your mom or dad that someone was picking on you at school? Did you perhaps get the response that you need not react, that the bully couldn't hurt you? I remember such experiences as a small boy and thinking to myself, "That's hard!" In the intervening years, study of Christian Science has brought me a clearer understanding of how to prove that the bully—in whatever from—cannot hurt us when we see clearly that the Christ is present in our lives.
Not that bullies wouldn't try. The world seems well supplied with aggressive behavior, ranging from inconsiderate driving to harassment on the street or in the workplace to the violent behavior of criminals and terrorists. You and I may need to do a lot of praying to gain the Christian composure that enables us to look at bullying with serenity and see its threats nullified. It is not enough simply to repeat some phrase like "harmony and serenity are in control." The Christian basis and scientific conviction for such an assertion must be sought and won through systematic spiritual study and prayer.
The example set by Christ Jesus is our guide. Remember Jesus' statement in his Sermon on the Mount, "Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also"? Matt. 5:39 . Not exactly the epitome of twentieth-century machismo! Yet the Biblical record makes clear that Jesus was not bullied. Facing mob violence, he moved through the mob unharmed (see Luke 4:28–30). The attempt to kill him through crucifixion failed utterly. What was Jesus' secret?
A study of the Bible reveals that Jesus' dominion came from his unwavering consciousness of the absolute supremacy of God and of his relationship as the Son of God. He not only maintained his composure when faced with evil; he turned expectantly to God to nullify evil, knowing the Father gave him authority. Christian Science teaches that this holy, spiritual authority is Christ, which Mrs. Eddy defines in Science and Health as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error." Science and Health, p. 583 . In the degree that we follow Jesus' example, we find that Christ operates in our human experience as true manhood, nullifying bullying.
How do we follow Jesus' example in dealing with bullying? In our prayers we need to gain the clarity of spiritual insight that identifies man as the holy child of God. Our Exemplar is Jesus, whose modus operandi Mrs. Eddy has explained as follows: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." Ibid., pp. 476–477 . We must not fail to exercise our right to see Godlike qualities in each individual. Where bullying appears, we can ask ourselves, "Is this a Godlike quality?" If we answer that it is not, we are then led to reason that it cannot be from God and is neither supported nor tolerated by divine authority. God is surely a loving God, and His image and likeness, man, just as surely reflects love. As our prayer establishes in consciousness this true picture of Love's expression, it will be manifested in our experience.
On one recent occasion a loud party disturbed the peace in the middle of the night at a campground. I was with a group of campers near the end of an extended trip, and we needed our rest for the journey home. I had been keeping up my study of the Lesson-Sermons as outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, applying the spiritual truths I gleaned to both general and specific needs of our group. That day my spiritual work had included giving prayerful help requested by another camper. In working with the lesson "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced," I saw clearly that forces antagonistic to God have no substance, no reality; they are untrue. Mrs. Eddy labels these imaginary antagonists as forms of "animal magnetism" and shows us how unnecessary it is to submit to them (see the chapter "Animal Magnetism Unmasked" in Science and Health).
When the disturbance began in the campground, my thought turned to cherishing the identity of man as the image of Love, God. I reasoned that where there seemed to be inconsiderate behavior, in reality divine Love, by its very nature, was maintaining loving qualities in man. The temptation to accept a picture of man as drunk or drugged was replaced with the understanding that God's man, made in His likeness, must reflect purity. I realized that my recognition of the presence of the Christ was bringing these Godlike qualities to bear on the human situation with full divine authority. The Christ was here just as surely as on our entire trip, continuing to reveal God's very nature in the individuality of everyone in that campground. There could be no exceptions, no gaps in "the divine manifestation of God."
It was only after praying until I had gained a confident sense of Christ's presence that I got out of my tent, walked across the campground to the party, and asked them to please hold it down so we could sleep. I carried only a flashlight. I can honestly say that I felt I was talking to God's children. This meant I could be genuinely pleasant. The folks, who were not camping at all, apologized and wished us a good night. As I returned to my sleeping bag, they had turned down their stereo and were leaving the campground.
During the minutes preceding the walk across the campground, I had to deal with the "but what if" arguments. What if they don't quiet down? What if they become aggressive? It sounded like a good-sized party. It was only when I was secure in awareness of their inclusion in God's kingdom as His holy, loving expression, and clear on the fact that authority lay with the Christ, that I went over. The "what ifs" proved to be illusory, forms of animal magnetism.
The next morning one fellow camper said he was amazed to see me going over alone, and another commented how irritated he had been by the noise. A third (they are not Christian Scientists) said she wasn't surprised at how the situation had been handled—apparently because of the harmonious way the whole trip had gone.
Humanly I was a bit surprised at myself but very grateful for this evidence that in the presence of the Christ, nothing can frighten us into being bullied. Turning to God in prayer had indeed made nothing of the problem in a scientific, healing way.
What had happened to the "evidence" of obnoxious behavior? Had I merely pretended that it wasn't there? No. Instead, the so-called evidence was held up to the light of the Christ standard. Was this behavior Christlike? Could the Christ nature ever be absent? Could God ever fail to reflect His nature in man? The prayerful work consisted in establishing clearly that the answer to each of these questions was "No!" along with gaining an understanding of the spiritual reasons why.
When Jesus taught turning the other cheek, and even prayed for forgiveness of his crucifiers, his vision of man was clearly spiritual. He saw man as the holy expression of divine good, rather than as the imaginary embodiment of aggressive mortality, or animal magnetism, being presented to the physical senses. He proved that this clarity of vision dealt effectively with bullying, and so may we. Each time we deal with aggression in the Christly way, even in small events, we strengthen our hold on the serenity of the heavenly kingdom, spreading in the world the influence of the Christ.
This Christly serenity is the natural result of realizing our spiritual stature as the sons of God. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a big strong mortal. What is required is that we stand erect in our consciousness of Love's commanding presence. Holding this mental posture, we see the Christ in charge. Never intimidated, the Christ presence maintains full control. No matter what confronts us, divine authority is at hand, declaring the goodness of every element in our experience. The Christ is not bullied.
