When we are faced with accounts of vandalism and drug addiction and hear that in our neighborhood violent crimes are on the increase, what can we do about it? We can begin by giving some thought to these words of Mrs. Eddy's: "Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind." Unity of Good, p. 11;
If we are struggling to see the better side of these misguided persons through the mass of error, or evil, that the senses present, we certainly are walking into and with the currents of material thinking. However, walking over error does not mean being oblivious of it. Rather it means helping to heal vandalism and violence by perceiving all people in their true light. To do this we must lift our thought to the origin of each one of us as in truth God's child. Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health: "In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence." Science and Health, p. 63;
Because God is the origin of everyone's true self, as Christ Jesus taught, we can begin to understand that the stability, order, integrity, and dignity of infinite Spirit, God, have always been the natural environment of all of us as the children of God, divine Life and Truth. Man can never lack warmth, love, and peace, because these qualities are inherent in him as the reflection of his Mother, Love. And because of his unbroken unity with his Father, Mind, man expresses intelligence and reflects Mind's productive activity. We can reason further that because these are absolute facts, there can be no power or reality in malice, destructiveness, or inadequacy, which have no source. The daily denial of such suggestions and the understanding affirmation of spiritual truth help to neutralize the long-term effect that poor or deprived backgrounds, uncaring, violent parents, and frustration seem to have on people.
