Now, I'm not talking about the kind of sensitivity that spends time ruminating and impulsively reacting to what others say or don't say, do or don't do. That kind of sensitivity—who needs it?

The sensitivity I'm referring to is the kind that is keenly aware of the sufferings and anguish of others. True sensitivity cares about people, is concerned about injustice and inhumanity. It is compassionate and understanding when people are down and out. It makes one reach out to them, do something practical and constructive to help them. It leads one to play a more active role in healing what needs healing in our world today.

Wasn't this Christ Jesus' approach? And he is our Way-shower. At one time, in the midst of a pressing crowd, he became very much aware of a sick woman reaching out to him for help. What did he do? He healed her of a longtime illness. ^{See Matt. 9:20-22 .} That's sensitivity in the right vein. That's having your spiritual antenna out and really helping someone.

"But," you may be saying, "I'm so hung up with what's wrong in my own life, by how badly I'm being pushed around by others, that I just can't see my way clear to helping others, let alone healing them."

Perhaps what is needed in your situation is a new viewpoint on life.

How did Jesus view life? For one thing, he saw good, and good alone, as natural. The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, explains, "Jesus regarded good as the normal state of man, and evil as the abnormal; holiness, life, and health as the better representatives of God than sin, disease, and death." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 200.}

Evil, then—evil thinking, speaking, and acting—is always abnormal. And it includes such things as annoyance and irritation, which we might not think of as evil. But anything contrary to good is evil—foreign to man, definitely not inherent in God's likeness.

Suppose what that relative or that co-worker did to us, or to somebody else, has ruffled our feathers. One thing we need to see is that irritation, not being good, is evil. It's not the normal, natural state of man as God made him. Like any evil element, irritation is nothing more than a devilish suggestion trying to make us believe that there is a power opposed to God.

But is there in reality such a power? Jesus referred to the devil not as another power to be reckoned with but as "a liar, and the father of it." ^{John 8:44.} He understood God, good, to be the only real power. That was fundamental to his teachings, his life, and his healing ministry. In speaking of him further, Mrs. Eddy tells us, "The master Metaphysician understood omnipotence to be All-power: because Spirit was to him All-in-all, matter was palpably an error of premise and conclusion, while God was the only substance, Life, and intelligence of man." ^{Mis., p. 200.}

It's not enough to desire irritation-free behavior on our part and decent behavior on somebody else's part. We have to start understanding "omnipotence to be All-power," knowing that God, Spirit, eternal good, is "All-in-all," and that He is "the only substance, Life, and intelligence of man."

Starting from a spiritual standpoint (even if we aren't yet quite sure what it means to us), we acquire a new perspective. We have the basis, then, to see man—God's man, what we all truly are—as being ever under God's unerring control, regardless of what is going on humanly. We see man as ever expressing God's wisdom and intelligence, as having only the substance that God is—spiritual substance, not material. Man, then—everyone's true identity—is not a mortal, material entity with a high or a low boiling point. He is completely spiritual, God's immortal offspring, ever at one with the serenity and dominion of infinite Spirit, who is all good and knows only good. Spirit, God, is "All-in-all."

Any form of evidence, then, coming from the material senses, originating as information on what some form of matter is or is not doing at the moment, is "an error of premise and conclusion."

So we don't have to go along with it. Jesus didn't. He was never in awe of any fleshly malfunction, bodily deterioration, or physical limitation. He saw matter-based evidence as a lie. He taught that there was so much more to man than meets the eye. And through his healings, he proved what he taught. Christ Jesus demonstrated the truth of man: that, as God's likeness, man is spiritual and eternal, whole and complete, pure and loving, and not subject to errors of any kind.

What was the basis of all this? That omnipotence is all-power. That God is the only source and conditioner of man. That Spirit, infinite Spirit, is All-in-all. And that in this allness there is only good.

God is also Love. We read that in the Scriptures. ^{See I John 4:16 .} So divine Love, being God, is All-power. Divine Love, then, is All-in-all. Man, God's incorporeal idea, is Love's creation. He can never be outside divine Love's allness, divine Love's perfect and eternal care. Man exists only to bear witness to divine Love. He is truly and forever divine Love's continuous expression. He quite naturally and inherently reflects only what God imparts, such qualities as love and intelligence and tenderness.

"That's fine," you say, "but obviously most people I know haven't heard about this. They are far from loving in their dealings with me and with others. In fact, at times they're quite ruthless, vindictive, and even vicious."

Christian Scientists do not deny that these evil tendencies are apparent in the world. But a Christian Scientist soon learns to ask himself, "Why am I letting someone else's distorted sense of man become mine?"

Although Jesus' view of man wasn't popular or widely acclaimed in his time, that didn't make his view less true or stop him from living according to his highest concept of God and man.

Isn't the big challenge we all have to face today the same as Jesus and his followers faced centuries ago? To reflect more and more of our true, God-given nature. To just live it. We're not here to sit in judgment on anyone or to push back—even gently—at someone for what he (or she) has done or hasn't done. We are here to love more, to see man as he really is—the very expression of God. That is our standard, the truly Christian one from which we must view our fellowman.

Christ Jesus' teachings went far beyond the spoken word. And so must we. We have to cherish and honor more and more, for example, Jesus' life and teachings. We have to pray until we genuinely feel love in our hearts for others. We have to live this love increasingly in our contacts with them. We have to go out of our way at times to be considerate and courteous, even when we don't feel so inclined. We simply have to care more.

As we begin doing this, in some small way, and keep building on it, we'll find the spiritual insight and depth of perception needed to look through intended snubs or biting barbs directed at us. Destructive action—deliberate or unintentional—could not possibly be true of the man God made in His likeness, the likeness of divine Love, infinite Spirit. And then we'll discover something interesting: What is most important to us is not that we be kindly treated, but that we are kindly treating others. This is the very crux of Christianity as Jesus taught it and lived it.

Jesus once said: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.... And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." ^{Matt. 5:38, 39, 41.} That's a big assignment, particularly if we have been hurt repeatedly and if our motives, which we honestly thought to be the highest, keep being misunderstood, criticized, and scoffed at. And yet isn't it in these fires of tribulation that we really grow spiritually?

For years I struggled with an oversensitive nature, spending far too much time feeling hurt, wallowing around in self-pity, and even indulging thoughts of retaliation. Finally, through Christian Science, I saw all this to be no part of anyone's real nature, including mine. And a longstanding physical ailment was permanently healed. At this time I began to see the importance of being more spiritually sensitive, and although I still have an occasional bout with reacting to others, I'm really on my way.

The day-to-day testing times (and who doesn't have them?) force us to look beyond mortal man with all his shortcomings to the real man, God's man, Love's man, Spirit's man, the true being of everyone. And this man is perfect. Period.

With such spiritual knowing—and this is prayer—inner storms start to die out. Hearts soften. Vengeance dissolves, forgiveness takes over. We begin to feel more compassionate toward people trying to intimidate, threaten, or offend us. We'll know with greater spiritual conviction that man's true worth can't be chipped at or blasted away by anyone or any circumstance. Man is always secure and intact in God's loving care and provision. And we will rejoice to know that our perpetual usefulness to God, everyone's real purpose in life, can never be lost or stolen by anyone.

With such a prayerful basis we not only start witnessing healings of personality conflicts in our lives but we also become more aware of the good others express. We'll start being more grateful for good, wherever found. We'll be more alert to opportunities to help others. As we follow through in living Christianity to the best of our ability, well see and feel more and more evidence of God's perfect control and unerring direction. What freedom and joy this will bring us!