Editorial May 18, 2020 ISSUE

The good that can never be canceled

Larissa Snorek

As I write this, almost everything in the city where I live has been shut down, and my family and I are on day 22 of staying in our home for social distancing. A friend on social media joked, “2020 is canceled.” As a collective sense of normalcy fades, and many feel it is being replaced by a palpable sense of anxiety, so much of what I hear from people is how vulnerable they feel in the face of this pandemic. The pervasive uncertainty and increased isolation are being offset, however, by a profound love for others and desire for connection. Still, questions loom about how this will end.

Christian Science prayer is especially applicable at this moment because it always begins with an expected end—one that is beyond what the physical senses perceive. Not with a specific form of an answer—no one knows yet exactly what form the resolution of this crisis will take—but with the substance of an answer: that goodness will ultimately prevail. Christian Science explains that underlying this is an understanding of the consistent availability of the Christ-power, the divine impetus that animated Jesus and enabled him to heal, including contagious disease. Jesus showed the world how to live and practice spiritual truth—the reality of Truth, or God.

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