Article March 30, 1992 Issue

Facing large-scale concerns with prayer

Christianity provides practical steps for us to follow in healing the concerns facing our world.

William A. Gough

As with most places these days, my country is facing many "big issues"—problems of such scale and complexity that solutions are not obvious and sometimes seem impossible. We Canadians are experiencing a constitutional crisis, an economic recession, and deep concerns about the environment. As a climate researcher interested in the environment, I can sympathize with policymakers and voters who, like me, are having a difficult time understanding these issues, much less doing something effective about them. This frustration can lead us to feel helpless and victimized by forces beyond our control.

What kind of prayer is necessary to heal such large-scale problems? All prayer begins with God. We must ask ourselves, Is our understanding of God "large-scale" enough for us to accept that solutions are even possible?

Christian Science starts from the basis that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, infinite in scope. Mrs. Eddy, in Science and Health, puts it this way: "Omnipotent and infinite Mind made all and includes all." This larger-scale view of God, divine Mind, enables us to reexamine who we are and the world we live in. We find that the spiritual man and woman of God's creating are what Mind made and includes. This is not, as is commonly accepted, a material creation but, rather, a spiritual one, unriddled with material limitations and contradictions. Spiritual creation is not fragile, precarious, nor combative; it is pure, perfect, balanced, indestructibly substantial.

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