Blessing all in God's community
Prayer in Christian Science is not only for oneself. If we are to realize the fullness of God’s blessings, we must look beyond ourselves and embrace everyone in our spiritual outreach.
In Psalms 100, we read, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise” (verse 4 ). As we love God, thank Him, and praise Him, we also acknowledge His greatness by recognizing and interacting with others as good, loving, and intelligent. All of God’s children express Him, and He tenderly loves each one. To truly love God is to love His creation, to love each and every one of His children. Jesus pointed out, “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (I John 4:20 ).
As a young adult, I had an experience that proved to me the value of seeing others as God’s perfect spiritual ideas. Traveling across Los Angeles, I climbed out of one bus in a downtown area and needed to walk around a corner to the next bus. But just as I was rounding the corner, I encountered an unruly gang of young men who picked me up and began carrying me away. I prayed instantly, and it occurred to me that every one of these men was known to God and cherished by Him. Words I hadn’t prepared came from my mouth: “I don’t mind if you walk with me, but you have to act like gentlemen!” Immediately they set me down, respectfully carrying my suitcase and ushering me as perfect gentlemen would do into the next bus.
To truly love God is to love His creation, to love each and every one of His children.
As we actively reflect the love of God, we are constantly defending our brothers and sisters from all harm, from beliefs of sickness, and from suggestions of evil intentions. We are reaching out through prayer to the entire world as well as knowing the truth about those in immediate view. In other words, we are living within God’s community and being a blessing to everyone in it.
On a very long airplane flight last summer, I was seated next to a tired-looking woman who was headed to a warm climate, she said, for rest and recuperation. From the time the plane took off, this woman was coughing while speaking with me. My first thought was not a loving one; I looked around the plane for another seat, thinking to protect my own health. There wasn’t another seat. Then I prayed, and the first thought that came to mind was, “Defend her!” Though I wasn’t giving her specific metaphysical treatment, it wasn’t hard to garner thoughts that could bless this woman—to know that an idea of God is always protected, rests in divine Mind, is nurtured by divine Love, and is blessed by infinite Spirit. She fell asleep, and remained peacefully asleep for the next 11 hours. When she finally woke up, we said a friendly goodbye. I contemplated the difference between my first selfish thoughts, followed by the joy I found in affirming God’s loving thoughts about this woman.
Prayer is not just to help ourselves escape a dangerous or uncomfortable situation. It’s a way to know that anyone with whom we come in contact is also protected through our loving acknowledgment of man’s true character. God, good, is expressing Himself and being expressed by His creation all the time. Because God saw everything He had made as “very good” (Genesis 1:31 ), it logically follows that evil has no place in this expression. Evil has no intelligence, no mind, no power. It is no person. God fills all space as the only intelligence.
I love Mary Baker Eddy’s statement on page 206 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all ….” We can live the truth of this statement every day as we keep grateful and constant watch with God—knowing that all is well with all of His ideas, which dwell together harmoniously as expressions of divine Love.
About the author
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