Article March 22, 1993 Issue

The child of God's care

When anyone in our family really needs help, God is the place to turn.

Valerie DePiazza Publicover

While I was in college, I felt that my relationship to God was not what it should be. So I set out to learn about different religions, and during this search I was introduced to Christian Science. I felt this was the theology that best clarified and expanded upon my own intuitive belief that God must be entirely loving and invariable, not influenced by man but rather man's only perfect influence and source. The writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, opened my eyes to the practicality of understanding more about the nature of God—about His goodness, His unswerving love for His children, and His absolute power over all creation.

One of the first eye-openers for me in my study of Christian Science was Mrs. Eddy's reference to God as Father-Mother. This delightful concept of God as both Father and Mother to His children gave me a sense of His perfect ability to care for me in every way. God, our Father, has power and strength, authority and tender love; but God is Mother to us, too, comforting, nourishing, and teaching us. And what does God need in order to be Father-Mother? Offspring! And that is our privileged position—to be the children of God.

Throughout the Bible, which describes man's relationship to God, prophets and other writers use metaphors to describe how it is that God cares for us: He is our Shepherd, a deliverer, a refuge and fortress; He cares for us "as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings." But it is through the ministry of Christ Jesus that our relationship to God is most tenderly and clearly defined as one of beloved child. Jesus consistently called God his Father. His familiarity with the Father invoked the wrath of the religious hierarchy, and yet Jesus' healings served to demonstrate the wonderful outcome of understanding that God is the eternal and exclusive source of man's existence.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

In next week's Sentinel—