Truth over tabloids

It’s hard to miss the headlines.

“Bikini body after baby!” “Crazy in love!” “Divorce rumors swirl!” shout at us in bold colors as we wait to make our purchase at the grocery store or surf the Web. All the gossip and self-promotion can prompt us to look away. But with celebrity culture increasingly making news, should we just be passive observers? We can actually be vigilant about detecting basic lies that try to pull us away from recognizing each person for who they really are spiritually—whether a “regular Joe” or a famous name.

Christian Science gives us the tools to meet life's story lines with spiritual counter facts.

Christian Science gives us the tools to meet life’s story lines with spiritual counter facts. Some useful questions might be: Do we see ourselves, or others, as capable of being mesmerized with personal charisma, or likely to take part in a kind of public “stoning” through words and pictures? (See John 8:1–11 for an example of how Jesus responded when people were literally about to stone someone.) Here are three related mental suggestions that spiritual thinkers can counter confidently through prayer.

• Someone is blessed with beauty, and I’m not. When a simple, “I know I shouldn’t be jealous” doesn’t cut it, it’s helpful to ask what we think we’re missing. Turning to the beauty of God, divine Soul, can restore balance and bring a cool breeze of gratitude to clean away ugly thoughts that try to creep in. Mary Baker Eddy gives this perspective in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul …” (p. 247 ). That’s a recipe each person wants—a guarantee that we’re loved and valued by God for who we really are, and so is everyone else. 
• Someone deserves scorn and/or pity. Here’s where true compassion can override the desire to pass judgment or let someone’s life story make us feel angry or sad. When something seems unjust, we want to make it right. But instead of fretting or fuming, we can pray, “Let Truth uncover and destroy error in God’s own way, and let human justice pattern the divine” (Science and Health, p. 542 ). A passage from Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 makes a case for allowing gentleness to motivate our thoughts and actions: “God’s ways are not ours. His pity is expressed in modes above the human. His chastisements are the manifestations of Love” (p. 102 ).

• Someone is bound to fail. Mary Baker Eddy spoke of this kind of cynicism as “mental malpractice” and described it as “a bland denial of Truth” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 31 ). God designs each of us to succeed (just by being His reflection), and we can’t buy into the belief that someone else’s failure is our gain. We can see past a “tear down” mentality and build each other up with the Christian love that goes way beyond praise or flattery. Hymn No. 105 hints at this antidote to the tempest of tabloid news: “Help us to build each other up ...  And perfect us in love” (Charles Wesley, Christian Science Hymnal).