'To Bless All Mankind' February 8, 2016 Issue

When neighbors become true friends

Kevin Graunke

Adapted from an article published in The Christian Science Monitor, December 3, 2015.

Recent steps toward reconciliation of the decades-long hostility between the United States and Cuba led Monitor columnist John Yemma to ask recently, “Can they be friends?” (see facing page).

As we pray to see all peoples of the world as our neighbors as Christ Jesus taught, it’s possible to start seeing a family in a way in which politics, race, color, religion, and geography become less significant. A friend of mine once told me how his travels had helped him realize that in God’s spiritual kingdom—the only true kingdom—there really are no “foreign” individuals, atmospheres, or principles. Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 254). As God’s spiritual creation, made in His image, we all dwell in His kingdom.

Our world today might make us feel justified in hating our enemies. Yet Jesus’ words challenge that approach: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; … if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?” (Matthew 5:44, 47).

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