In the midst of human dissension and threats of world-wide violence, Christian Science is proclaiming its vital message that universal harmony is a present spiritual fact. Above the seeming din of discord, listening humanity is again hearing the song of angels, "On earth peace, good will toward men." To a world frantically rearing stronger material defenses, forts, armies and navies, uncertain treaties—yet knowing the fearful frailty of them all—Christian Science brings its message that divine Love is a defense impregnable. With fresh meaning it restates that law which was given by Christ Jesus, that we love one another even as he loved us. In the presence of his love, sin and hatred disappeared; he passed unseen through the midst of a crowd filled with wrath; in Gethsemane a band of officers and men fell backward before him.
Christian Science teaches that to love one's neighbor as oneself is to know man impersonally, to see man individually and collectively as God's expression, perfect and altogether lovable; and to know as unreal all that fails to conform to this divine ideal. Christian Science is unveiling the vast kingdom of reality, wherein divine Principle is the only sovereign, and each individual idea is controlled by God's law of universal harmony. In reality, there is no other creation.
Speaking of her discovery, Mary Baker Eddy has said in part (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 252): "Christian Science is not only the acme of Science but the crown of Christianity. It is universal. It appeals to man as man; to the whole and not to a portion." With a knowledge of Christian Science, each student is duty-bound to demonstrate, so far as he understands it, the divine Principle of universal harmony. This requires the laying aside of belief in racial prejudice, national pride, and class barriers. It calls for the humble acceptance of a new and divine code of values. The Christ-spirit is the true bond of unity to those who have glimpsed the invisible realm of Spirit. Throughout the far-flung lands of the earth, Christian Scientists are united in one pure, selfless motive—to bring to light God's perfect, spiritual creation, and thus to help all mankind. Whatever their race, their country, or their station in life, in this Spirit-inspired purpose they are as one nation. Every obligation, every interest and desire, should be subordinated to this all important pursuit.
Universal co-operation, freedom for individual development, spiritual self-government, and equality of opportunity are eternal spiritual facts. In His perfect realm they are fully and completely in operation. But in human affairs they can be experienced only as thought is spiritualized by acceptance of the revelation of absolute reality. Otherwise, they cannot be permanently established and must rest precariously upon the flimsy foundation of human belief. Divine facts must be spiritually understood, and demonstrated. Human will, whether expressed in class legislation, governmental methods, or destructive wars, can never bring these facts into view. Class barriers will be broken down as individuals work together on the basis of mutual understanding and demonstration of Truth. Racial antagonism will fade away as the appearing of Love's universe obliterates the dream of matter. Social injustice will vanish as divine justice is proved to characterize the one supreme governing law. Only in the heart which yields itself to Truth can the permanent laws of universal harmony be inscribed. Not human power, but divine will alone, can write them there.
In Proverbs we read, "Righteousness exalteth a nation." Superiority is constituted not of racial or nationalistic inheritance, but of the demonstration of Spirit. When a Samaritan woman once broached to him the subject of racial antipathy, Christ Jesus quickly answered her by stating the true basis of superiority. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." Living in obedience to divine Principle is the only true worship. The reflecting of the spirit of divine Love is the only basis of superiority individual and national.
Because Christian Scientists understand something of that universal harmony which characterizes God's perfect creation, their efforts to realize the truth through which alone international harmony can be attained are especially needed and particularly effective. The most obscure individual can help powerfully in the task of unifying mankind. God has given man dominion, and a seeming lack of it is illusion. The power of a single pure, absolutely spiritual thought is more effective in dispelling the dream of discord than are countless human plans. Instead of passively accepting discordant records as they are circulated through the press and other agencies, individual Christian Scientists should be alert to use every atom of their spiritual knowledge to reverse and reject them.
He who looks to God, divine Mind, for spiritual views of creation, and reflects clearly and unconfusedly the perfect unity he finds therein, is helping to scatter the ominous clouds of international unrest. He is not dismayed by what he knows to be illusion. His affections transcend the limitations of nationalistic bias. Reflecting all-inclusive Mind, he embraces all races in his scientific thinking and emphasizes the unifying influence of infinite Love.
Mrs. Eddy loved all mankind because her pure vision pierced the mortal mist of illusion and beheld each one as Love's beloved child. In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 275) she wrote: "Christian Science can and does produce universal fellowship. As the sequence of divine Love it explains love, it lives love, it demonstrates love. The human, material, so-called senses do not perceive this fact until they are controlled by divine Love; hence the Scripture, 'Be still, and know that I am God.' " The individual reflection of divine Love knows no personal or national differences; it recognizes only the Christ-light shining in the consciousness of all.
Those who have perceived the universal fatherhood of God have devoted their lives to the grand task of unifying mankind in one harmonious brotherhood. They have worked to dispel the illusion of misunderstanding, the seeming separation of men built upon the selfish, contending interests of human economy.
With consistent, selfless courage, Paul submerged his nationality in his desire to take the gospel or good news of Christianity to every nation. His disputes with Peter and other Christian converts, his laborious journeys to distant cities, his dreams of reaching the very outposts of civilization, indicate his loyalty to the universal nature of the Christian message. To the cultured Athenians, bound by pride of race and intellectual accomplishment, he declared a God which "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." It is to Paul, more than to any other besides Christ Jesus, that the Gentiles are indebted for their rich inheritance of Christianity, for it was through his arduous efforts that the torch of Christian enlightenment was carried to the Gentiles. Later, the Jewish converts to Christianity, weakened by the artificiality of their binding law, would have let this great light fall into possible oblivion.
Because Mrs. Eddy loved all mankind, she labored with unselfed love to establish her Church upon a basis that would make Truth, as revealed to her in Christian Science, available to all. Her love was not nationalistic, but universal. She built for eternity. With motherly tenderness and solicitude she included every individual in her divinely inspired plan. She knew that she was showing the world the divine Principle which will eventually destroy the seeming greed and rivalry, the friction and confusion of interests that pervade private and international relations. The leaven of scientific truth will eventually leaven the whole mass of human thought. Christian Science will bring prosperity to all the world when the law of universal brotherhood becomes the basis of economic procedure, and all the activities of man are seen to be integrated, harmonious, convergent. An examination of the Concordances to Mrs. Eddy's writings discloses the infrequency of her allusions to nationality, while the words "universe," "universal," and "world" list scores of references.
Intense nationalism and racial pride are disappearing from the thoughts of those whose spiritual perception has been awakened by Christian Science to the facts of divine creation. Gradually the truth is being understood that there are, in reality, no racial distinctions, no national vanities, no class lines. In God's kingdom, infinite Love binds all interests in one harmonious whole, and peace reigns eternally.
Much patience, faith, and scientific effort are required of those who discern the demands of God and labor for their consummation. The task is hopeful and inspiring, for the material concept is unreal and the self-assertion of Truth inevitable. Mrs. Eddy has said (Miscellany, p. 278): "The government of divine Love is supreme. Love rules the universe, and its edict hath gone forth: 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me,' and 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' Let us have the molecule of faith that removes mountains,— faith armed with the understanding of Love, as in divine Science, where right reigneth."
Let us be universally-minded. Let us realize vividly that Love is infinite, that Life is immortal, that real substance is eternal, that harmony is universal. There is one God, one government, one nation. Christian Scientists who turn frequently from their personal problems to contemplate and reflect the universal spiritual truths so sorely needed to awaken mankind, are speeding the reign of righteousness in every corner of the earth.
