Article October 28, 2002 Issue

Common ground in Geneva

By Shari Hunnicut

As a Christian Scientist, I felt quite at home with the conference's first activity—a full day of prayer. Consequently, I already sensed a feeling of unity among my fellow delegates when I joined them for dinner on the first night.

The next day brought short talks by many speakers, and most included at least one aspect that confirmed to me the universality of the teachings of Christian Science. Many presenters spoke about the Motherhood of God, and said we are the children of God, created in Her/His image. Her Holiness Dodi Janki, the spiritual head of the Brahma Jumaris in India and the U.K., said she had seen that "there is no enemy at all." This parallels Mary Baker Eddy's statement, "'Love thine enemies' is identical with 'Thou hast no enemies'" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 9).

On the morning of the second day, I met a young woman from Rwanda, a country that has recently experienced the genocide of a million people. This young woman and her co-workers are going into villages where widows and fatherless children abound, taking information about AIDS, which has become a serious threat to many of the survivors.