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What’s our role in supporting wise and good government?
Looking at today’s news, it’s understandable if we think it’s relentlessly negative about the issues many countries are facing. Politicians serving in democratic nations—whether in the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, or elsewhere—often appear to be at war with each other. Many politicians frequently seem to have abandoned their civility in debating with one another. And the rest of us often have to refrain from discussing the issues to avoid doing the same. Recently, when I’ve met with friends and family in the UK, we’ve laughingly said, “Don’t mention the ‘B word,’ ” meaning Brexit, the process to implement the 2016 referendum decision for the UK to leave the European Union. Most everyone appears to be frustrated by the ceaseless twists and turns in a situation that has potentially enormous ramifications for the UK, Europe, and the world.
As a concerned citizen and a student of the Bible, I’ve been praying to better understand God’s good government and how such prayer can contribute to calm and justice in these situations. A letter in the Bible to an early Christian worker named Timothy, a well-loved coworker of the Apostle Paul, provides a helpful starting point. It includes this: “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior” (I Timothy 2:1–3, New Living Translation). These words remind me to start my prayers for the world community by affirming that God’s government of us all enables all leaders to be open to divine leading, whether I agree with their political stance or not.
So what can we experience of God’s government here and now, and how can we do this? Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, deeply loved the Bible, and in her main work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she provides a spiritual sense of the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus’ words “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” are rendered as “Enable us to know,—as in heaven, so on earth,—God is omnipotent, supreme” (p. 17). Praying to see that God is the all-powerful divine Mind and that Mind’s will and purpose, which are always good, are ultimately supreme, has enabled me to feel more balanced and calm in the current political situation.
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