FROM THE EDITORS December 15, 2008 Issue

TO LIVE 'THE LIFE OF LOVE'

Editor

FROM HER HOME in New Hampshire in 1899, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "I would that all the churches on earth could unite as brethren in one prayer: Father, teach us the life of Love" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 301).

This prayer will resonate with almost anyone who has experienced anger and hate, but it is especially relevant in light of the increased antagonism toward Muslims in the United States. Although the Pew Forum on Religion indicates that they make up roughly one percent of the United States population, media coverage—among other things—tends to emphasize coverage on Muslims, often in a negative way.

This outsized suspicion toward Muslims is a residue of 9/11 and other terrorist acts, and as we move toward a New Year, perhaps it is time to give up prejudice for the spiritual understanding of each other that our world desperately needs. Providing a balanced view of Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations has been one of the hallmarks of coverage by The Christian Science Monitor, and efforts to strengthen peace and understanding among these groups need our prayers to learn "the life of Love."

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