Article September 12, 2016 Issue

United by Spirit, guided by Love

Laura Lapointe

I once half-jokingly said that if I were to run for President of the United States, one of my parents would not vote for me! My parents have two vastly different political perspectives and often vote for opposite parties in elections. Despite these differences, however, they share common values that bind them together as a team.

As an adult, I feel especially grateful to have had a balanced upbringing through which I discovered how to listen to and learn from people whose views differ from mine. There are moments when we as a family decide to abandon the political discussion and “agree to disagree,” but it is with mutual respect and not raised voices, and sometimes even some healthy humor.

I remember that my mother shared with me, at a young age, a passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, that helped me pray about conflicts: “The relations of God and man, divine Principle and idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He creates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history” (pp. 470–471). Over the years my family has experienced greater harmony in our discussions. And even election seasons are more peaceful.

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