I grew up attending a Christian Science Sunday School, where, among other activities, we learned the Beatitudes (see Matthew 5:3–12), the series of blessings Jesus declared in his Sermon on the Mount. 

This certainly was time well spent, because while we were learning to live the healing ideas of the Beatitudes, we were laying the foundation for our individual spiritual growth and learning how to be productive citizens of our community and the world.

The Beatitudes made good sense to me as a child, except for the last two: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

Even when I became a young adult, these two beatitudes didn’t resonate with me and were easy to skip over. “After all,” I thought, “who would persecute someone in this day and age for following Christ Jesus?” 

Well, I found out. 

Seeking a better education for my child, who was about to enter second grade, I went with my daughter to visit a newly opened Christian school that advertised as having a nondenominational program where children were encouraged to advance at their own speed in all academic subjects. This was appealing, as my daughter was not being challenged in her current school. 

The principal, who was also the pastor of the church the school was connected to, introduced himself and then inquired which church we attended. When I told him we were Christian Scientists, he launched into a diatribe. In a loud and accusing voice, he said that if I didn’t stop practicing Christian Science, I was going to hell and would take all my family members with me. 

I was completely taken aback. This was the first time I’d been attacked because of my faith, and I was very concerned that my eight-year-old was feeling this persecution as deeply as I was. Getting my wits about me, I brought the conversation to an end, stating that this clearly was not the right place for my child. 

It was clear that the only legitimate thing for me to do was to love as our Master did. But how?

As we were walking out of the building, with the principal right behind us, my little girl put her hand in mine, looked up, and said, “He isn’t very Christian, is he, Mommy?” 

I was very grateful that this was her take-away from the situation. However, that wasn’t the end of the matter. For several weeks afterward, brochures advertising this church school arrived in our mail. In each one, a short paragraph pointing out the “dangers” of Christian Science was circled by hand and had red arrows surrounding it. 

As one can imagine, this was deeply disconcerting. I felt threatened. Without saying anything to anyone, I did as I had been taught in Sunday School: I prayed to our Father-Mother God for direction. And I heard a clear message to do as Jesus taught: “I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39). 

I wanted to be obedient, but I struggled with how to do that. It was time to go deeper in my understanding of this command. After much prayer, it came to me that turning the other cheek was not an act of weakness or submissiveness. Rather, it was a willingness to turn from the false perception of man as hateful and bullying, to the true view of man as respectful and compassionate. 

The first chapter of the Bible tells us: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. . . . And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31). I reasoned that if God created man—all of us—in His image, could man be unlike God in any way? No! So that pastor’s spiritual identity, and mine, must rest in the fact that we are both very good—that we are each the expression of God and reflect His goodness.

I thought of the deep love Christ Jesus had for everyone, even those who reviled him. He never reacted to their lack of understanding of his mission. Even when questioned prior to his crucifixion, he responded to his accusers only with love. 

It was clear that the only legitimate thing for me to do was to love this pastor and all of his congregation—to love as our Master did. But how? This man had humiliated me in front of my child, criticized my religion, condemned me and my family, and frankly, scared me. How was I going to love him? 

I needed to understand that as the expression of God, good, man is incapable of being a bully.

Digging still deeper in prayer, asking the Father to guide me, I was led to the “Daily Prayer,” which is given as a By-Law in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy: “It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to pray each day: ‘Thy kingdom come;’ let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!” (p. 41).

After reading the prayer several times, I finally got a glimpse of what was needed. To live my life according to the law of divine Love, I must begin by establishing the kingdom of God in my own thought—turning from fears and hurt feelings and recognizing that as ideas of the divine Mind, neither this man nor I could be manipulated by false beliefs. I needed to understand that as the expression of God, good, man is incapable of being a bully, and also incapable of seeing man as anything but kind, reasonable, and compassionate. 

There is only one Mind, the divine Mind, and I realized that we were both governed by it. Therefore, there could be no manipulation or misunderstanding, and no conflict.

The last part of the “Daily Prayer,” “may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!” released me from the burdensome sense that it was up to me to correct the misconceptions about Christian Science that had been voiced. God’s Word would do the correcting, and I could trust the power, the love, and the completeness of that Word. And if it was necessary for the pastor and me to have another conversation, I could be assured that divine Truth and Love would provide just the right avenue to do so and guide me in what to say. 

Some time later, a couple of friends who attended that pastor’s church told me he had been boasting to his congregation about how he’d put me in my place. They were very disturbed about his disrespectful treatment of me, and apologized for his actions. 

In the years since this time of gaining a better understanding of the spiritual import of the beatitudes about persecution, I have had several other opportunities to put them into practice. These have come as I’ve worked through difficult relationships, both personal and professional, when I or others have been the target of judgment, misrepresentation, or false accusations. 

Am I grateful for this healing? Absolutely! Because another lesson I learned from this experience is the importance of daily identifying myself and everyone as being the “very good” of God’s creating. Doing this keeps our thought so clear about the character of the real, spiritual man that we are not easily fooled by the counterfeit, material man. I’ve come to see that in every situation where I’m tempted to feel hurt, angry, or frustrated, I can immediately examine my own thoughts to be sure I’m accepting only what is actually true about myself and others. That makes it much easier to obey the command to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

I also gained a clearer understanding that Christian Science is a way of life, a way of thinking that must be consistently lived and demonstrated. The “Daily Prayer” is our daily protection and guide. Keeping it close to heart is one of the ways we can truly uphold and live Christianity with sincerity, compassion, and courage. And that blesses us deeply and shows us that the kingdom of heaven is ours as well as our neighbor’s.