In recent weeks we've seen and heard quite a bit about the effects of war on children. Greater attention is being given to the special challenges children face in many areas of the world—and rightly so. Our hearts go out to them, and we wonder what we can do. Practical Christianity reassures us that we're not helpless—we have spiritual resources to overcome what is unjust and inhumane.

In the April 15 issue of the Sentinel, we explored the subject of children's own spiritual capacity to understand God and respond to His guidance and care. The following editorial discusses how adults' actions—inspired by prayer—can make a tremendous difference in helping children.

Stories of what it means to be a child are heard in all cultures and strike a special chord within us—one that may be deeper than any other. Haven't we, as adults, looked into the eyes of children and seen ourselves—that part of us we so yearn to keep intact? We see in children an innocence and trust, a love that often seems miraculous in its purity in the midst of a sometimes indifferent world where innocence isn't valued.

Children of war, children of exploitation, children of poverty, are hard to forget—not only because our hearts break to see their suffering but because our hearts soar when we see evidence that they are being recognized and helped.

In many ways, an awakening is going on. This certainly has been reflected in the news, and in magazines lately; and on international, national, and local levels, as well as on an individual level, there's a growing awareness of the plight and promise of the world's children.

Coinciding with the launch of The Monitor Channel's national cable service in early May, a television special called "Childhood: A Journey" will be presented. This special shares a global perspective on the state of the children of the world and on what people are doing to improve and enrich the lives of children. This program will introduce us to people of insight and compassion, people who have a conviction that childhood's problems can be solved by those filled with courage and fresh concepts.

Those who have compassion toward children naturally long for a permanent key to being able to help them— especially when circumstances can seem overwhelmingly difficult and complex. From the Christian Science view, the key is the spiritual inspiration that flows from a deep realization that God's children, as He created them, are not helpless mortals in a chaotic, material universe but are made in His spiritual likeness, governed by His infinite love.

This shift from a material view of children to a spiritual view can open up doors that have been closed and remove barriers that have seemed insurmountable. The moment we begin thinking anew from the perspective that God is ever-present Love, infinite Mind, we discover that we are able to express a depth of love, an ability to grasp ideas, a strength to take wise and perceptive action that just didn't seem possible before. And we know that children are given power to do the same.

Spiritual understanding brings immediate inspiration. It goes beyond an ordinary capacity for caring, beyond the limited, human mind's ability to recognize a solution. A true understanding of God and of man's inseparable relationship to Him gives us access to the unrestricted resources of Spirit.

Good isn't a matter of chance, a mere accident of birth. Christian Science explains that there are unchanging spiritual laws that provide for our protection, health, and every need. By our drawing closer to God and becoming more familiar with and obedient to these laws, quite remarkable (but natural) events can occur. From right where we are, we become able to help in ways that are far-reaching. An example is the experience on page 3 of a couple whose prayers resulted in their playing a crucial role in returning an abducted child to her parents.

When Christ Jesus said to his followers, "Ye are the light of the world," he was proclaiming a mighty spiritual truth of man as the very expression of God—shining forth God's goodness and glory. Brutality and neglect, as well as accident and disease, are dense darkness. They don't belong to "the children of light" as the book of I Thessalonians in the Bible calls us. These evils have never been created by God, our Father-Mother, and therefore are not inevitable "facts" of life.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mrs. Eddy explains, "Mind is the divine Principle, Love, and can produce nothing unlike the eternal Father-Mother, God." The true spiritual fact is that God is infinite good, and no lesser or opposite power truly exists to nullify His care. Knowing this can destroy the evil that seems to grip the situation—and it can rescue children from danger.

Christ Jesus, whom we call the Saviour of the world, showed what actually saves—the Christ, the true idea of sonship with God. This ever-present Christ, or Truth, brings inspiration and the gift of Christian healing to anyone who accepts it.

Undoubtedly, Sentinel readers already love children and don't need to be persuaded that children must be protected and provided with their legitimate rights of health, education, and, most of all, their right to the nurturing love that enables them to thrive. Yet we can more deeply commit ourselves to praying to see fresh, immediate ways to forward this journey toward greater well-being—not only for those children who are close to us but for all the children of the world.

Elaine Natale

This is the second of two related editorials on the subject of children and prayer. The first, "Children's powerful prayers," appeared in the April 15 issue.