Hasn't each of us made an unfortunate remark about another in jest and then hoped others would forget it? In such instances an underlying error of thought may be coming to the surface to be healed.
Isn't such critical thinking ignorant of divine Love's all-inclusive embrace of its unlimited creation of perfect spiritual ideas? No one can be displaced in God's kingdom. Infinite divine Love never sees one of its ideas as superfluous, deficient, or offensive in any way. It tenderly loves and enfolds within its own flawless perfection every spiritual individuality. In Science and Health, the textbook of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy writes: "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.'" Science and Health, p. 13.
Exclusivism stems from thinking either that there is not enough good to go around for all or that some are not as worthy of this good as others are. It is based on the belief that life and intelligence, fulfillment and good, are in matter; that matter is substance; and that man is both good and evil. Envy, greed, or fear claims to cause many people to view others as competitors and to exclude them from some good in an attempt to regulate their actions. Manipulation, arbitrary laws, and destructive criticism are some of the methods of exclusivism.
