The Minister of a Methodist church in downtown Cleveland has seen the congregation grow from almost nothing when he arrived to a healthy size. And the new congregation is full of diversity—racially, ethnically, and economically—which, he says, is "tremendously energizing." He goes on to say, "We are enabling people to see beyond their stereotypes, and when people do that they realize better what God intended us to be—a global community in which one doesn't see just one political or religious spectrum." Christian Science Sentinel, December 21, 1998, p. 1 6 If seeing "beyond . . . stereotypes" can happen in a church community, it's possible in the larger community, including the community of nations.
That need may have been hinted at in a statement by the late King Hussein of Jordan, who had played an important role as a mediator in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. He said, "It's time that together we occupy a place beyond ourselves, our peoples, that is worthy of them and of their sons, the descendants of the children of Abraham." The Christian Science Monitor, October 28, 1998, p. 12 This is a reminder that both the Arabs, through Ishmael, and the Jews, through Isaac, can trace their ancestry back to their common parent, Abraham. Yet it's obvious that common human ancestry does not guarantee peaceful coexistence. Much more is needed.
To me, the urging to "occupy a place beyond ourselves" and the ability to see beyond stereotypes bring to thought a spiritual demand —the demand to look beyond the obvious, the outward appearance, the way the mortal senses perceive us or the human mind defines us. Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things." Science and Health, p. 264 She states further, "The foundation of mortal discord is a false sense of man's origin." Ibid., p. 262 This implies that to get rid of mortal discord we need the true sense of man's origin.
