It should have been a deeply satisfying experience. Every Saturday morning, a group from my branch Church of Christ, Scientist, rolled up our sleeves with our Episcopalian friends down the street as part of a community breakfast program for people in need. The spread of food was impressive. Scrambled eggs, fresh-squeezed orange juice, pastries donated by a local bakery. The volunteers were thrilled to be providing our guests with the kind of meal they didn't usually get to eat. And our guests—many of them homeless, jobless, lonely—certainly seemed pleased to be there.
But the warm feelings I got from these breakfasts quickly disappeared once I left the church. I couldn't help but wonder if our efforts really made any significant difference in the lives of our guests. I knew some of these people wouldn't eat for another few days. Some would sleep on the streets, or on rooftops. Some would seek out alcohol and drugs. So what was the point?
After a while I realized that while I'd been very much involved with the do-goodism of this program, I really hadn't done much thinking about it from a spiritual perspective. One Saturday, tired of feeling down, I finally got it. The question shifted to: "What can I know spiritually about others, and how can I pray to see everyone as God sees them?"
This wasn't an unusual question for me. And I knew I would find the answer in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Countless times Mrs. Eddy had to prove the ideas she gave to the world in this book. History shows it to be rather remarkable that this woman—who was frequently sick as a child, whose husband died in the first year of their marriage, and who early in her adult years rarely had a permanent address to call "home"—could ever have achieved a life considered to be empowered. Yet Mrs. Eddy emerged as a public speaker, teacher, publisher; she founded a worldwide movement based on her discovery of the Science underlying Jesus' teachings. This Science is available, thankfully, to anyone who picks up Science and Health.
So when I turned to Science and Health, I wasn't surprised that one statement in particular jumped out at me, "If you are yourself lost in the belief and fear of disease or sin, and if, knowing the remedy, you fail to use the energies of Mind in your own behalf, you can exercise little or no power for others' help." Science and Health, p. 455.
This helped me see that I needed to start thinking more clearly about God's creation, everyone, as already empowered with the power of God, divine Mind. I saw that, because God has a purpose for everyone, no one can be a have-not, or be down and out. No one is outside the resources of the divine Mind. Everyone has the God-derived ability to know his or her spiritual identity. Everyone deserves a meaningful life.
I began to realize that the best help I could give others was to see them the way God sees them. So I made a commitment: Before I served up eggs on Saturday mornings, I would pray to know that God was present in everyone's life—to help, to comfort, and to heal. And also to know that it is this presence that empowers.
I wish I could say the results were earthshattering. They weren't. But I did begin to notice things I hadn't seen before. I noticed a genuine sense of community among the people who attended the breakfasts, a willingness to help—even to pray for—each other. I also noticed that some of the guests began to help out at our weekly get-togethers—setting up the hall, serving the food, and cleaning up. It was also evident that some were now taking steps toward normalcy and purpose in their lives. Some started going to self-help programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. Others began to attend church.
While the gains may have been modest, the lesson was profound. Basing my actions on prayer, I saw, brings a God's-eye perspective to efforts to help others. This is the most powerful form of empowerment. And it blesses everyone.
