Article June 27, 1994 Issue

Give them your light, not your oil

C. Paulette Fredrick Skinner

Almost overnight we found ourselves the legal guardians of a young boy, my husband's nephew. Neither of his parents could care for him. We were told he was rebellious and dishonest. He had been taken to a psychiatrist, who predicted that his mental health and character would continue to go downhill.

What I saw was a precious child who needed love. As we sat across from the psychiatrist, listening to his evaluation, I was silently praying as best I knew how, affirming what was really true about this child. Through my study of Christian Science I had come to recognize and accept God as the loving creator who made all things spiritually. As God's offspring, made in His image and likeness, this boy was in truth spiritually complete and perfect. I could not see my own children in this light and leave this child outside! I left that meeting with the firm conviction that he need not fulfill the prophecy that had been laid out for him.

Later, as I pondered the Bible statement "God is no respecter of persons" from the book of Acts (10:34), I saw that God does not play favorites. We each possess spiritually all that we need to live joyfully and successfully. His parents' inability to care for him in no way lessened this boy's worth or importance as a child of God. Our support of him was simply God's love being manifested in his life. And this same love would nurture me and my family in this new experience too.

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