From the Editors December 17, 2012 Issue

Welcoming correction

The Editors

There are lots of good reasons people don’t like being told that they’re wrong. One of the hardest times to hear correction is when the one correcting you is simply mistaken or, worse, even a bit malicious. That’s not always the case, of course, but if it happens often enough, who wouldn’t start to feel a reluctance to be corrected!

With God, though, it’s different. God is Love. Not just loving, but ever-present, all-powerful Love. A God who is divine Love assuredly wouldn’t ever dish out destructive criticism or harsh correction. God’s kind of correction would have to be constructive, even healing. This statement in the first chapter of Mary Baker Eddy’s extraordinary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, has always been reassuring to the book’s readers: “Divine Love corrects and governs man” (p. 6). When we’re blessed by Love’s divine correction, we actually gain a new view and new direction of thought. It’s a new birth, a new start.

A nice compliment for anyone is to be told that he or she is coachable. An athlete, for instance, who is willing to be coached and corrected, has the potential to make some solid gains. What holds true for those athletes applies to you and me, too. When we’re praying, having a tractable and teachable attitude is a valuable asset. God’s correction of us is a truly prodigious demonstration of love. One feels so cared for and cherished when corrected by God. With correction, there always comes a new view, a new perspective, revealing something fresh about God’s goodness and creation.

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