I live in Texas. Because this is a border state, deep, heartfelt conflict and rising tension regarding issues of immigration are very evident. It's easy to have compassion for all concerned. There doesn't seem to be an easy solution to this problem. People on both sides of the border need our prayers.

First, a bit of background and a few facts: The state of Arizona recently enacted a law aimed at reducing the large number off illegal immigrants there. It also hopes to reduce the dangers of drug trafficking and violence on the border. There has been a great deal of reaction, both positive and negative.

Americans responding favorably (51 percent) and Arizona voters who approve (70 percent) feel that such actions are necessary to curb the related costs and influx of undocumented workers. Dozens of other state legislatures are writing new laws similar to Arizona's.

Civil rights groups, however, fear racial profiling and intimidation. There have been protest demonstrations on school grounds and in many other public venues. Some opponents of the law have convinced many companies and city councils to stop doing business with Arizona.

People on the right and left of the political spectrum have weighed in. There are also humanitarians who are supportive of the thousands of impoverished Mexicans and Central Americans who are searching for a better life for their families and will face any danger so they can cross over to the United States.

JESUS MULTIPLIED GOOD

It's hard to know where to start in addressing these concerns. Yet when a problem seems bigger than we are, and we need a solution beyond what we can see, then it's time to pray. Christ Jesus was a master at prayer. He had an amazing ability to lift thought out of the narrowness of the human circumstances, opinions, reasoning, politics, and drama, to an entirely new reference point. In fact, Jesus took people from thinking in terms of a matter-based sense of reality to Spiritbased reality. While those around him were assessing the material situation and trying to figure out how to come up with resources to meet their needs, Jesus understood the situation from a spiritual standpoint and proved that multiplication off the good at hand was entirely possible.

Because this spiritual aptitude of Jesus has relevance to our prayers regarding the immigration issue, let's just think about it for a moment. Jesus didn't divide five loaves and two fish into tiny little bits for 5,000 people. He multiplied them so that all could be fed (see Matt. 14:15–21). When a listener came to Jesus and asked him to settle a conflict regarding a personal inheritance, the Master clearly stated, "Who made me a judge or a divider over you?" (Luke 12:14). Jesus was all about seeing God's goodness increase, not be parceled outt and fragmented. Christian Science teaches that he understood the multiplication of resources because he prayed, that is, he reasoned out from the standpoint of infinity. He knew all things were possible to God.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE MATERIAL BOX

So how can our prayers help those on both sides of the border? Like Jesus, we need to think outside the material box that offers no solution, and reason from the spiritual standpoint of infinite good, infinite opportunity, and infinite resources. God is not in one country more than in another. His goodness is not localized.

As we join forces in prayer, we can expect there will be mental breakthroughs, new light coming into consciousness, progress, and an equitable solution becoming evident. Jesus explained this phenomenon, which happens as a result of prayer, when he stated, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

Here are some spiritual facts that can help us "know the truth." God is infinite Spirit, and God is unlimited, unrestricted good. Since Spirit is ever present in His universe of good, then man, meaning both male and female, is spiritual. The man and woman of God's creating—His spiritual ideas—cannot be outside of His all-sufficient goodness, separated from divine Principle's law or divine Love's protection. This spiritual man and woman are the only reality, and include all good and all sufficiency. God's idea cannot be impoverished, corrupt, vulnerable to evil, or misunderstood.

On several occasions Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, encouraged her students to pray for the healing of strife between nations and for freedom from global tensions. Her book Science and Health helps us reason out from a spiritual frame of reference. She defined the man God created as "the compound idea of infinite Spirit; the spiritual image and likeness of God; the full representation of Mind" (p. 591). She also wrote, "Allness is the measure of the infinite, and nothing less can express God" (Science and Health, p. 336).

This must be the man and woman that God knows—whole, satisfied, fully sustained, fully supplied, rightly placed, safe; at home in divine Love's infinite allness; here at this very moment. There are no opposing forces to prevent us, and everyone, from expressing divine Life. Each one, no matter which side of the border, reflects the beautiful, bountiful, harmonious life of God.

NO ONE NEEDS TO BE DEPRIVED

As I think about this issue, I am reminded of a time when I was in the minority and needed to pray for my safety. I, too, felt that I was misunderstood by those around me. My college roommate and I had decided to spend the summer at a university on an island off the US mainland. We were given the wrong dorm assignment and ended up as the only people from the mainland in the dorm. We stood out because we had white skin while the other 200 students had beautiful olive tones. We were resented because we had the opportunity to go to many other schools on the mainland and those on the island had few choices.

Unknown to us, the others thought that we were taking up two slots that could have otherwise been given to local students. When we walked into the cafeteria, students would not sit with us, would mutter unkind things just loud enough for us to hear, and would move from the table when we sat down.

I felt bad that we might be depriving someone else of an opportunity. And it was a little scary being in a slightly hostile environment. I prayed to know that God had infinite good available for all of His ideas. Surely all-inclusive Love would nott deprive my roommate and me of a wonderful experience, nor would an infinite God limit anyone else's educational opportunities. We were each citizens of God's government, each having a secure, designated, and supported place in His kingdom.

I tried to put aside any sense of self-justification, willfulness, pride, and hurt feelings. My roommate and I read the Bible together and talked about the spiritual fact that Love just had to be always present. As His children, each of us was loved, safe, and innocent.

Within a week our suitemates decided to start talking with us and made us gifts made from local flowers. We became close friends and were even invited to visit their parents' home on another island. By the end of our stay, the feelings of animosity in the cafeteria had also disappeared.

Those same truths of ever-present Love and of God's goodness are here now. They enabled Jesus' students to see good multiply, brought healing to my summer experience and kept me safe, and are the facts concerning the sufficiency of each one of us. They are the spiritual truths that will inspire solutions on both sides of the US border, and will reach out to help people living in other parts of the world where similar issues exist. css