SENTINEL WATCH July 17, 2006 Issue

UNIFIED IN PRAYER FOR PEACE

ELKE DE MACQ

A FEW WEEKS AGO, as I was scrolling through the latest headlines on the Internet, my attention was drawn to a news report of a terrorist attack in Dahab, Egypt. Just a few weeks earlier, I had been sitting with my husband in a restaurant on a promenade of this sleepy little town situated on the Sinai Peninsula.

Immediately I began to pray for all the parties involved, including the attackers. Christian Science has taught me that prayer is an effective counterforce to violence in the world, and can bring healing to any situation. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, once said"... unite in prayer for peace: For the end of hostility and war among or between all nations, and religious sects,—for divine Love to make us one human family, to have one Father-Mother God, one Christ, whereof the Scriptures bear witness; and to demonstrate the divine Life, Truth, and Love—healing the sick, blessing our enemies, and all mankind" (Inspiration for Life's Relationships, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection, p.87

While thinking about these concepts, I found this definition of the word peace: "anti-war; absence of disturbance, concern, or conflict; absence of a culture based on violence." Seeing peace just as the absence of something, however, didn't satisfy me. So I proceeded to look for positive characteristics of peace, such as equipoise, purity, courage, empathy, neighborliness, and love. Peace is a birthright that God has given to each of us. In prayer and deep communion with divine Love, we can claim peaceful qualities for everyone. We don't have to fight for them! As gifts of God, they are naturally ours to live.

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