From the Editors September 1, 2014 Issue

Watching over our world

David C. Kennedy

Sometimes it’s easy to wonder what we can do to help the world. It was reported recently, for example, that “the number of people forced to flee their homes across the world has exceeded 50 million for the first time since the second world war” (Harriet Sherwood, “Global refugee figure passes 50m for first time since second world war,” The Guardian, June 19, 2014). That report, and many other concerns about the threats facing humanity, are sometimes startling. But when viewed rightly, they can arouse in us the kind of compassion that truly helps: the merciful act of watching and praying for mankind.

To watch through the lens of spiritual sense is to see more than just the violence and threats to mankind’s safety. It’s to see through the outward threats to the underlying claims of the carnal mind, futilely but aggressively asserting that evil is the master of good. And then to see spiritually the truth that renders those claims powerless.

Prayer for our world naturally begins with reaching out for a better understanding of God. God is the divine Principle of man and the universe, governing all through divine law, maintaining justice, order, harmony. He is the divine cause and governor of all that truly exists. The Bible refers to God as “him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: … he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:34, 35).

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