Hopes for peace fulfilled

It was astonishing: the same newscast reported on fighting between two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, who at the time were in conflict not just with Israel but with each other. In Iraq the conflict between two Sunni factions was described as a civil war within a civil war. All this made me think of the factions in the United States and elsewhere who are debating what should be done in Iraq and by whom. And that doesn’t even count the Shiite factions in Iraq that also are fighting for dominance.

“Does humanity have to be broken up into factions within factions?” I asked myself. Up to this point, I had been hoping for peaceful solutions in both these troubled areas of the world. Now, although there has been progress in the conflict between Hamas and Fatah, it’s still not clear how long it will last.

And the factions in Iraq are still going strong. This has made me take a fresh look at my desires. Obviously, a military or political solution wouldn’t go deep enough to erase years of hatred and distrust. A more solid basis for enduring, peaceful, and trusting relationships between peoples and nations needs to be found.

A Biblical prophet once asked some timeless questions: “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” The implied answer is yes, we do have only one Father, namely God, our Creator. Then the prophet asks a harder question, “Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?” The answer is actually embedded in the question: it’s our disobedience to the one God that makes humankind fight and kill one another.

If the key to peace is being more obedient to God, how can we use that idea to open the lock? One thing that strengthens my conviction that peace will prevail is the knowledge that Muslims, Jews, and Christians unite in worshiping one God.

The worship of this one God and a greater understanding that there really is only one—not one Muslim, one Jewish, and one Christian God—must lead us to obedience to this one God. By lifting our thoughts above political and military solutions to the one divine will, it frees us from confusion and discouragement. So as I prayed for this understanding and for peace to prevail, I asked: how can my life and my prayers aid in making practical the spiritual fact that there is one God?

A Biblical passage spoke to me of God’s great love for all His children—that’s you and me and everyone. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Many people are familiar with the life of Christ Jesus and with all he did to save humanity from sin, sickness, and death. He was truly living evidence of God’s saving grace, known as Christ. Yet this presence of divine grace can’t be limited to just one person, who lived only a few years.

God’s love has always been with humanity, and always will be. The Christ, Truth, that empowered Jesus’ life, that he emulated in every way, is forever available to save the entire world and all the people in it. Being timeless, it continuously speaks of divine Love to the whole human family, not just to a certain religion or sect.

To understand how Christ leads the human family out of the pain of war and into peace is to experience the reforming power of Christ. In the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy defines Christ as “the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.” As there is one God, the Creator of all good, there is one Christ, the manifestation, or divine message, of God to humanity.

This divine message destroys anything that is unlike the goodness of infinite Love because it turns people’s thoughts from war to peace, from hatred to love, from enmity to trust. It does this by speaking in our hearts and minds of God’s love for each of us, and of our spiritual identity as His sons and daughters. And whether the Supreme Being, is called God, Allah, or some other name, Christ is Deity’s universal message of love.

Here is a small example of how Christ reforms us one at a time. A family member once told me, without any trace of condemnation, “You are sometimes stubborn.” I realized that I didn’t really know the difference between stubbornness and perseverance, so I looked them up.

To be stubborn is to refuse to obey or comply, while to persevere means to continue in some effort in spite of difficulties. I decided that what I was doing was just plain stubborn, not persevering. I changed my behavior immediately, and was grateful for this evidence of Christ, expressed in my life by my relative’s kind but corrective comment. And, more important, this simple incident with its reformation of thought and action inspired me with a better way of praying and a higher hope for the world.

I understood from this that if I could change, everyone can change. Even nations can change, and factions within nations who may think they are persevering when they are actually just being stubborn can respond to the saving and reforming action of the one Christ. Often this involves changes in all concerned, destroying stubbornly held viewpoints in individuals and among nations.

Christ eliminates factions by bringing to light areas where people can agree and work together. It leads us into peaceful relationships that are natural. It also breaks down barriers. Prayer reveals that the one Christ is delivering God’s messages to us and to everyone. Because Christ is the divine message from God to humanity, the infinite Love that empowers Christ naturally destroys the fear, anger, and hatred that would divide us into warring camps.

Mary Baker Eddy referred to Christ as “the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” Recognizing this voice of Christ as the voice of Love, we can trust its power to help people see their way through conflicting messages, motives, or options, to the message of good that can be heard by everyone.

Today my prayers rest on the firm conviction that there is not only one God but also one Christ. Even those who do not revere Jesus as Christians do, can and do still receive Christly messages of direction. The universal Christ clears the way for peaceful action. And the “true idea voicing good” promises peace throughout all the earth. One God has indeed created us all; one Christ informs all humanity of this truth and reforms us to live as peaceful brothers and sisters.

Our hopes for peace in Iraq, the rest of the Middle East, and all parts of the world are legitimate. Whether conflicts are centuries old or of newer origin, prayer that affirms the power and presence of one God and one saving Christ ensures that these hopes for peace will be fulfilled.

The brotherhood of Christ:

Science and Health
583:10
332:9-11 Christ

King James Bible
Mal. 2:10
John 3:16 God, 17