Don't we all yearn for order and harmony in our lives? We want happy coordination and interaction with others—in our families, at the workplace, and in our communities. But sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the complexities and diversity of modern lifestyles. Yet, different viewpoints and a variety of expression, when founded on a common principle, cause no apprehension and disunity. Indeed, they should enrich and enliven human institutions.

People from all walks of life came to hear Christ Jesus' teachings. Fishermen, learned men, children and grown-ups alike—in fact, great crowds of people—were naturally drawn to the Master for instruction and healing. What was it that drew these people? Jesus taught about a loving Father, the one universal God, who abundantly supplies all of our needs, whether the need is for health, freedom from sin, or a more abundant sense of living. The Christ, or Truth, Jesus exemplified binds people into a fuller sense of fellowship and love for one another.

Later, the Apostle Paul addressed the question of how we can find unity in church affairs in the midst of diversity. In one of his letters to the Christians at Corinth, he likens the membership of a church to a body and shows that all the functions are of equal importance for the right action of the whole body. Paul's illustration shows how futile it is for one part of the body to think it can work effectively independently or at cross-purposes with the whole.

To Paul, such membership was a living organism that draws its vitality from the unity of purpose and variety of activity of each member. He explains, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."

Paul compares the church to "the body of Christ." He recognizes that such a God-centered church needs for its vitality and effective witness in the world a diversity of functions. Yet, central to all the activity is the unity of the members' fellowship in Christ. Paul speaks of the diversity of gifts and talents that is manifest in the church and sees that all these gifts have their source in God.

This larger vision of church as the body of Christ helps each member to work in harmony and unity with others. Not one of us possesses a gift or grace that he or she has not received of God, for He is the source of all right activity and good. As Jesus showed in his ministry, we possess nothing of ourselves separate from God, divine Love, for we are in reality the image and reflection of God, and we can initiate nothing ourselves without our Father's guidance and help. In fact, the spiritual qualities we manifest are not ours but God's for we are truly divine Mind's expression, in much the same way as the sun's rays show forth the light, warmth, and radiance of the sun.

An understanding of our relationship to God as His loved child helps us to deepen our fellowship with one another, for we recognize that we are all members of God's universal family. It is important to realize that the varied gifts Spirit bestows have their source in God and are ours only by reflection. This truth gives us the capacity to express love, intelligence, and joy freely.

When we get a clear glimpse that we are serving God and witnessing to the activity of Christ in church, we gain a greater appreciation for the diversity of talents expressed by individual members. Such diversity is not found in independent points but is like the elements of the spectrum, or prism, which make up the whole.

This diversity builds strength into the fabric of church activity and becomes solid building blocks for unity. The materials we use in building church are brotherly love, patience, and forbearance, found in a deeper understanding and valuing of one another's efforts; these Christly qualities temper church.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, built her Church on the rock, Christ—on the foundation of Christian healing and regeneration. She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity."

The carnal mind, or anti-Christ, which is the enemy of Truth, would try to undermine church by causing schisms and controversy among its members. The belief of many minds at work is the antipode of Paul's vision of true Church as the body of Christ, where each member is essential to the functioning of the whole. When we are tempted to accept divisions and strong human opinions as the norm, we can be sure it is mortal mind's futile effort to oppose the healing activity of Christ in human consciousness.

What is the remedy? Becoming aware of the action of Christ in consciousness, we see ourselves and everyone else more clearly in the light of Truth, as God's perfect expression. This understanding of man's spiritual nature in God's likeness brings healing and regeneration into our lives and communities. This is church in action.

Paul invites Christians to find the "more excellent way"—the way of love. He makes it clear that love is the bond that binds all humanity into a deeper fellowship in Christ.

In The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, Mrs. Eddy writes, "The government of divine Love derives its omnipotence from the love it creates in the heart of man; for love is allegiant, and there is no loyalty apart from love." A church membership that is united in love for God and man heals.

Ann Kenrick