Christian Science teaches its followers how to make practical in their daily lives the great fact of the unity which exists eternally between God and His perfect creation. Through the persistent acknowledgment of God as Spirit and of man as His perfect, spiritual idea, inseparable from Him, men and nations are brought into harmonious relationships.
It is only when mankind listens to the whisperings of the carnal mind that disunity, separation, and division arise between individuals and nations. Unity among Christians gives them great strength and influence as on the Day of Pentecost, when men were filled with such inspiration and power that their message, although spoken in one language, was understood by men of different tongues.
In that period the Christians lived together "with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts 2:46). In such unity there was great spiritual strength which resulted in healing works. Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, writes in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 162): "Strength is in man, not in muscles; unity and power are not in atom or in dust. A small group of wise thinkers is better than a wilderness of dullards and stronger than the might of empires."
In a poem published in the Boston Herald in 1898 Mrs. Eddy refers to the unity then existing between two great nations—the United States of America and Great Britain. And she quotes the former as saying to the latter (Poems, p. 10),
"We proffer thee warm welcome
With our hand, though not our knees."
Also in this poem Mrs. Eddy shows how the hearts of free men can unite in friendship, even though they may have political and other differences. She refers to the spiritual warfare in which the two nations are engaged and then concludes (ibid., p. 11):
"Brave Britain, blest America!
Unite your battle-plan;
Victorious, all who live it,—
The love for God and man."
How inspiring and important for all mankind in these days of conflict between men and nations are these words of our Leader! The weapons of the Christian's warfare are spiritual, and the greatest strength today is to be found in the willingness and ability of men and nations to live in their daily experiences the battle plan of love for God and man. Such living supplies the only safe basis for the establishment of permanent peace and prosperity throughout the world.
The battle plan of love for God and man always results in victory for any individual and nation when it is consistently applied, for the practice of Truth and Love blesses all mankind.
In periods when injustice, lawlessness, or controversy arises, the Christian Scientist acts up to his highest understanding of righteousness. He is careful not to condemn an individual or nation, but to recognize the omnipresent and omnipotent power of the one infinite Mind, divine Love, and to insist that God's laws are supreme and govern all.
He prays earnestly that the stubbornness of human will, whether in himself or in others, will yield to the impulse of divine Mind. He unites with those in his home, church, nation, or in the world who are following the battle plan of love for God and man and listens for the voice of God to give him light to support that stand which in human experience is nearest right. He lifts his concept of himself and his opponents into the realm of divine Mind, where the recognition of "our Father" holds all in a perfect union of agreement and good will.
The great prophet Moses gave to mankind the moral law, which is an important guide for all men and nations. Yet there was something missing in this law, a deficiency which Jesus revealed: the importance of mercy and love to temper justice.
Justice in human affairs is important, yet to be permanently effective it must be based on love for God and man. The quality of justice is sometimes symbolized by the figure of a woman, blindfolded and holding a pair of balanced scales in her hands. This figure is supposed to represent the impartial nature of human justice. But true justice has its eyes wide open to the allness of divine Love and the goodness of man in God's likeness. It judges not from fluctuating human standards of right and wrong but trusts the guidance of Love's directing.
Jesus told his followers always to judge righteous judgment. And Mrs. Eddy writes in a letter to a branch church (Miscellany, p. 283): "Individuals, as nations, unite harmoniously on the basis of justice, and this is accomplished when self is lost in Love—or God's own plan of salvation. 'To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly' is the standard of Christian Science."
Christ Jesus furnished the great example of the power of the supreme battle plan: the love for God and man. He illustrated it in the parables of the good Samaritan and the prodigal son. He showed how the power of the Christ, active in human consciousness, always unites men with God and with each other. The Christ never unites truth with error, but always overcomes error and establishes harmony and peace, even where turmoil has seemed to be in evidence.
Toward the end of his earthly career Jesus prayed fervently for his disciples— that they might be sanctified through the Word of Truth. And then he uttered these thoughts (John 17:20, 21): "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
May all Christian Scientists, everywhere, unite with joy in the Christian's battle plan.
"Victorious, all who live it,—
The love for God and man."
