As I write, the government of my country, France, is announcing new strategies after the riots that took place in November 2005.

For instance, resumes should not outwardly display the job applicant's name, in order to prevent discrimination against immigrants. Top industries have agreed on a plan for hiring more people whose parents are immigrants. The media have been asked to show more diversity in their programs.

Other issues regarding housing and higher education are being studied, in order to allow a mix of different populations and to avoid concentrating immigrants in ghettos.

All good decisions can be supported by our prayers, whether we live in France or not. Still, changing thought and breaking down prejudices takes time. It’s reassuring to know that we have powerful spiritual resources to use when facing challenges like the ones that led to the violent weeks in the French suburbs.

Being of both French and Muslim descent, I understand very well what those kids in the streets may have felt. I, too, had to come to terms with unfavorable conditions and to discover who I truly am.

The more I think about what happened in France and in other countries like Belgium and Germany the more I understand that behind cultural tensions and difficult immigration issues are a lot of fears that need to be overcome at an individual level.

We seem to be questioning different models, different ways of life, conducting a deep search for who we really are. And people also have fears about those who are not like them.

Personally, I have come to realize that merely focusing on our human background is a dead-end road. Nothing is more liberating, more powerful, than realizing our spiritual heritage as children of God. Recognizing that God, Spirit, is our true divine Parent equips each one of us to face life’s challenges.

I gained much freedom and peace about these issues when reading this sentence inScience and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.”

This spiritual identity is our true resume. This spiritual origin, or platform, provides us with our divine rights and strengthens us to face courageously whatever lies ahead.

To claim the benefits of our spiritual heritage means cherishing each tiny instance of good we witness or have in our lives, in our families, in our neighbors and friends. It also means recognizing that behind all good is the power of God. Divine Love is always present to support us.

This enables us to stop fearing the future, stop listening to destructive suggestions that tell us we won’t make it. In reality, we live in the kingdom of God, and in that higher consciousness there is no “alien” person, place or thing. So we can feel at home wherever we are.

And because no one is alien to us, we can recognize our fellow man (of whatever race, age, gender, social background) as our true brother, mother, sister, father. As a result, we can greet everyone mentally with this affirmation: I know you as you are—the child of God, just like me.

This isn’t always easy, however. To maintain this spiritual approach to life, and especially toward other people, requires a daily, long-term commitment to fight whatever would oppose our rightful sense of home, here and now.

We need to focus on our true history as children of God and on that eternal kingdom where we have known and will ever experience only good.

“Nothing is new to Spirit” is another powerful sentence in Science and Health. Everything good is already familiar to the child of Soul, God. As children of God, we are the image and likeness of divine Mind. Because of this, we don’t need to be afraid or feel that we are foreigners in a strange land. God’s kingdom has no second-class citizens.

If we are to prove this in our daily lives, however, there is a battle to win. And it’s not the kind of battle you win in the streets. It’s a day-to-day battle within our own consciousness.

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes “Be of good cheer; the warfare with one’s self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you,—and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory.” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 118).

In that kind of day-to-day warfare, we might discover within our consciousness evidence of prejudice caused by false education or those we hang out with. But through our growing spiritual understanding, we have the ability to expel this prejudice before it becomes a wall that would separate us from healthy and loving behavior.

Whether or not we are from immigrant backgrounds, we all need to overcome fear of those who are not quite like us. And this brings us back to the deep question of our origin.

Recognizing God as the Father and Mother of all gives us deep wisdom that will lead each one of us to know precisely how to deal with inappropriate behavior that comes from lack of education or ignorance.

We might discover an attraction to violence in ourselves or our friends. Along with this may be the belief that violence is a means of solving problems quickly.

If that’s the case, we need to grow into a deeper understanding of what true power is. True power belongs to God, divine Love. When we align ourselves with Love, we have unlimited opportunities for good, and we will find that violent acts no longer seem like a solution.

As far as my own life is concerned, the battle for progress has been long, and it hasn’t always been easy. But as I’ve learned these lessons, my experience has changed for the better. Today, I am living in a beautiful neighborhood and have an interesting career in a worldwide corporation. I no longer feel the rage those kids in the street demonstrated.

As tough as this internal battle has been for me, I now can see it has given me a strength that no sweet, rosy road would have brought. It has shown me the great wonder, or eternal truth, that supersedes a merely socio-political analysis of mankind—one that can be quite intellectual and thus doesn’t change conditions very much.

This eternal truth was articulated by Paul the Apostle a long time ago, and it is still valid today: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

This is a heritage worth fighting for.

Man, the offspring of Spirit:

Science and Health
63:5

King James Bible
518:29 (to 2nd .)
Gal. 3:28, 29