The key to stopping conflict, whether it's political or familial, is to know where power is, and where it isn't. To understand that God is Love sheds light on just what it is that has power. Love has omnipotence, all-power. How does that help in such situations? When you understand that man is the spiritual image and likeness of God, divine Love, and not the material mixed bag the senses see, then you realize that in truth man can only express the love that is part of his God-created nature. Accepting this spiritual fact puts our thoughts under the control of God, the control of Love, not hate. It keeps us from being victimized by our own reactions.

Now, you say, this may be well and good when dealing with small-scale relationships, but what about groups of people who hate each other? What proves to be based on God, Principle, is true no matter what the scale. As in mathematics, the rule governs all solutions, whether we are working with tens or thousands. Overcoming of the problem starts in our own thought. And when our thought is governed by Love, so are our circumstances.

I had an experience that illustrates this. I was chairman of a community service organization. For some time a member of the organization had had a reputation for being domineering and difficult to work with. The group recognized this person's intelligence and ability to contribute, and developed a pattern of behavior that allowed for her input, while at the same time keeping the peace. Everyone avoided resisting this individual even though working together was uncomfortable and frustrating.

The situation finally came to a head when this person wrote up a policy that everyone felt would be detrimental. No one wanted to say anything, but it seemed to me that it was time to stop this willful disregard of each member's place in the decisionmaking process. Not to speak up at this point would also imply consent to the proposed policy.

After much prayer, I felt I had to speak to the individual about it—but how? I knew that it had to be done in God's way—through love. Not only was I going to see past what seemed to be an unlovable individual to the one that God created in His image, but I was also going to ask for an amendment to the material she had drafted.

I started praying to see her spiritually, as she truly was. It was clear to me that as an expression of God, Love, she was loving, selfless, and one of a brotherhood held in the Father-Mother's all-encompassing embrace. I knew that as a spiritual idea of the divine Mind that conceived her, she could not help but respond to its guidance; she had a conscious place in the harmony of God's creation.

Early in the morning, while studying the Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly, I came across this statement by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health: "To fear sin is to misunderstand the power of Love and the divine Science of being in man's relation to God,—to doubt His government and distrust His omnipotent care" (p. 231). It made me sit up and take notice! I had been fearing an angry outburst, a sinful reaction from her. The sentence preceding the one quoted says, "To hold yourself superior to sin, because God made you superior to it and governs man, is true wisdom." I could see this was true of her as well as me. Man, as spiritual idea, cannot react to sin because it is not in his experience.

What seems to be occurring when there is inharmony is acceptance of misleading information from an unreliable source—the five material senses. Instead of being in a volatile situation, I realized that this person and I were never actually outside the kingdom of heaven, harmony. At that moment I lost all fear of confrontation and was able to call her, feeling absolute trust in God's control.

After some unrelated friendly dialogue, she led the conversation to the subject that I wanted to talk about, doing so in such a way that it seemed perfectly natural for me to comment and for her to feel that we were in complete agreement. I felt as if I had witnessed a calming as awesome as when Christ Jesus quelled a raging sea (see Matt. 14:25–33). We had both been brought to that place of Love, that "quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down" where "the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isa. 33:20, 24). Since that phone conversation years ago, there has been no return to the previous pattern of behavior and expectations.

We break the cycle of hatred and fear when we understand that man is not mortal but immortal. We truly are the offspring of God. Love broke the cycle of hate in my experience, and Love is there for you, too. The imposition of power by one individual over another, or one nation over another, can be reversed by true peacemaking. Our efforts, resources, and support for any activity can work effectively only if they rest on this higher, spiritual basis. Material resources are limited. But when our prayers affirm that power is in the recognition of our spiritual oneness with God, divine Principle, progress is made. As Science and Health says, "There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God" (p. 228).

The power of divine Love corrects our mistaken perceptions and checks the temptation to react. We each can feel Love's presence as we affirm our true nature as spiritual ideas of divine Mind. And just as God's power is available to us, it is also present for everyone.