Recently, I read an Associated Press article titled “From COVID to Ida: Louisiana’s marginalized ‘see no way out’ ” (Aaron Morrison, apnews.com, September 11, 2021). One dictionary defines marginalized as “relegate[d] to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group” (merriam-webster.com). The article detailed the story of a Black family—a grandmother, along with her son and grandson—in what appeared to be a hopeless housing crisis. 

I found myself wondering, What does Christian Science say about this? These words from Psalms came to thought: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. . . . Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children” (90:1, 16). 

In this age and for centuries past, Blacks have been a marginalized population in America and many other countries. As a people, we have often suffered from lack of economic, political, cultural, and social good, without the concrete solutions that many others enjoy.

Infinite Love cannot be marginalized.

This is also the situation for countless others around the globe—whatever their race, ethnicity, or country of origin—who have for generations found that their environment differs radically from the Psalmist’s heavenly concept of home, wherein harmony is seen as the only and eternal reality. Christian Science teaches that no matter what the human crisis, there is only one God and one omnipresent home, which embraces and includes all. God’s beloved children dwell forever in the conscious harmony of His presence. 

The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, states that “Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe” (pp. 465–466). Then we need not be mesmerized or fearful, or doubt God’s ability to meet the human need. The scientific fact is that no condition, such as pandemic, weather, politics, war, or human stereotypes, can separate Principle from its idea, man—the true, spiritual identity of each one of us. God is the one and only governing Mind. 

Christ Jesus proved consistently that God governs man and the universe. The Bible implies that Jesus did not own real estate or have a home of his own, but he never lacked anything. For sure, he understood God’s loving and abundant provision. His supreme understanding of God’s, divine Love’s, presence and power separated him from the materialism of his day. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

After her discovery of Christian Science, as Eddy was beginning her long and useful career as a healer, teacher, speaker, and author, she often lived in rented rooms or boarded with families in different types of households. As she grew in her understanding of God and her relationship to Him, she was able to purchase a home of her own, as well as provide for others.

As we too grow in our understanding of God and become aware of Love’s continuous care, our lives and the lives of others improve. 

When I had been studying Christian Science for about two years, I remember sitting across the desk from a Christian Science practitioner, telling her about my housing woes. My widowed landlady had informed me that we would have to relocate temporarily because she was required to make improvements to our modest furnished house—and that the work would have to begin soon. My daughter was in the first grade, and we lived down the street from her school. With only my small income from my secretarial job to pay bills, we lived paycheck to paycheck. My former husband, a musician, lived in another state and was unable to send regular child support checks. I didn’t have any extra money or savings and was unable to pay for the move.

The practitioner agreed to pray with me and spoke comforting words about God’s love for us, with the assurance that God was taking care of all our needs. She suggested I pray with words of a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal: 

Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are 
              within thee,
      Heir of the ages and child of the day.
Cared for, watched over, beloved and 
              protected,
      Walk thou with courage each step 
             of the way.
(P.M., No. 278, adapt. © CSBD)

The places I looked at for temporary housing were either out of my price range or in deplorable condition. I soon realized that if I was to find a place for my daughter and me, God—our Father-Mother—would have to provide it. Christian Science teaches that home is a state of consciousness wherein good is recognized as the only reality. There is only one God, who loves, embraces, and includes all of His children. Therefore, each of us, no matter what the circumstances, dwells forever in this divine presence.

Every time I became fearful, I thanked God that we were already complete and included all right ideas of home—such as harmony, convenience, order, freedom, joy, beauty, and so forth—until I felt certain that in the divine economy, good is always within range. It is “deific law that supply invariably meets demand” (Mary Baker Eddy, Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 45), so there can be no imbalance. Supply and demand are both sourced in God. 

When I realized that these spiritual facts were true for my family, within a day or two my landlady notified me that a temporary place had been located for us at half the rent I had been paying her. She also said that in addition to the relocation expenses being free to me, we could use the furniture from our house in our short-term space. During the time we were relocated, she continued watching my daughter after school until I got home from work. And when we returned to our original rental, the repairs that had been done made the living conditions better and safer. Prayer had changed what looked like a hopeless situation into a blessing for all concerned. 

When we abandon our false concepts of what true home is, we find that the kingdom of God truly is within us and at hand, as Christ Jesus promised. And we find each step of the way that the human home we seek represents the home and heaven that were always there in consciousness. The law of divine Love destroys belief in any presence or power apart from God. 

Security, safety, and dignity belong to all, because all belong to God. Christian Science shows how the fatherhood and motherhood of God links Love’s sons and daughters in one harmonious brother- and sisterhood, and this is my heartfelt prayer today for those who appear to be marginalized. In one of her writings, Eddy poses this question: “Can Love be less than boundless?” (Pulpit and Press, p. 3). The answer must be “No,” as these words from another hymn attest: “You go forward, loved and peaceful: / Victory is always sure” (Friedrich Preller, Christian Science Hymnal: Hymns 430-603, No. 476, © CSBD). 

And victory is always sure because infinite Love cannot be marginalized.