'To Bless All Mankind' March 26, 2018 Issue

Knowing you’re good

Deborah Huebsch

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor, September 4, 2017.

The seventeen-year-old was sitting slouched in his chair, looking completely bored. He was a resident of a government correctional facility, following a criminal conviction. That day, he was one of eight teens at a weekly meeting with me and another Christian Scientist. Looking intently at each teen, my friend said very clearly, “You are good!”

Suddenly the one who seemed not to be listening sat up, and his eyes filled with tears. He was clearly moved. As I watched the effect of this simple message, I considered the transformative power in knowing that each of us is, in fact, inherently good.

My friend certainly wasn’t suggesting that criminal behavior is good. Rather, wrongdoing isn’t consistent with the purely spiritual view of things. That view—the spiritual reality—springs from the understanding that God is our creator. The Bible states, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). So our real identity is entirely spiritual and good. This is a universal truth; it applies to everyone. God did not, could not, create a criminal.

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