'To Bless All Mankind' February 13, 2017 Issue

Breaking through victimization

Susan Booth Mack Snipes

Adapted from an article published in The Christian Science Monitor, December 29, 2016.

I am so inspired by the account of the Nigerian woman photographing her people’s strength and joy, encouraging them to rise above hopelessness, to uphold their dignity, and to help one another (see editorial on facing page).

No matter how difficult our circumstances may be, we can turn away from hopelessness to something greater and more powerful. I’ve come to see that this greater power is God, divine Love, and it is the basis for our hope and courage. The all-encompassing love of our Father-Mother God is right here, now. Christ Jesus best expressed this love, for all time. Like the sun shining through the clouds, the healing Christ, which Mary Baker Eddy explains as “the spiritual idea of divine Love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 38), illuminates even the darkest of circumstances.

One of my favorite Bible stories is when Paul and Silas, victims of religious persecution, sang hymns in prison. There seemed no escape, yet they turned away from hopelessness and began to pray and to sing praises to God. Suddenly, there was an earthquake, and the prisoners’ bonds dropped off and the doors opened. Most touching to me is that even though they were physically freed to escape, they waited for the guard to recognize their freedom and lead them from the prison (see Acts 16:16–40).

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