Since the ending of the war in Europe, representatives of fifty nations have gathered together to formulate a charter intended to protect and preserve world peace. Most of us were far removed from direct participation in the discussions. But each of us had an opportunity prayerfully to support the San Francisco Conference.
No gathering together of the representatives of the nations can of itself make or ensure lasting peace. Enduring peace can come only as we understand our true status and our relationship to God and to our fellow men. Those who sit around a conference table usually express the thought of the citizens of the nation which they represent. The starting point, therefore, of a final and just declaration of peace is with the individual citizen, wherever he may be.
In Christian Science the importance of man's individuality is clearly revealed. Man is a spiritual idea, individual and perfect, reflecting the one creator, infinite God, eternal good. He is not isolated and alone, but is at one with God and His ideas. On page 115 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, under the heading "Scientific Translation of Immortal Mind," appears a simple and concise definition of man which, when understood and demonstrated, brings healing and peace to mankind. It reads: "Man: God's spiritual idea, individual, perfect, eternal."
To keep this definition in thought is to overcome the human tendency to belittle an individual or his achievements. It is mortal mind which, in belief, limits and suggests that an individual is quite inconsequential. If one listens to its misleading suggestions, one may find himself in the depths of self-depreciation and self-condemnation, which in turn result in abandonment to a sense of the futility of individual thought and action.
Imagine trying to limit or belittle God. It seems ridiculous even to mention such a notion. It is equally ridiculous to suggest that man, God's idea, is insignificant or inconsequential. A person may seem unimportant, but the real man, ever at one with God, is infinite Mind's representative, the perfect expression of divine Principle, God. The mortal mind argument that depreciates an individual also measures good in terms of personal accomplishment. For example, one who writes a book may, by certain standards, be considered to be much more important than one who writes only an opening chapter or one who is incapable of writing either.
The value of right thoughts, however, cannot be measured. A kindly word spoken opportunely, a brief utterance of truth at the right moment, may be more important in promoting peace than a pronouncement from high places. Spiritually right thoughts express God. The power of a right thought is the seed within itself.
"It should be thoroughly understood," writes our Leader, Mrs. Eddy (ibid., p. 467), "that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established."
Through knowledge gained in Christian Science one comes to understand how beloved is each idea of God. He also learns the importance of clearing his consciousness of every thought of criticism, irritation, and doubt, so that he may truly reflect God's infinite wisdom and manifest divine Truth and Love.
Our Master, Christ Jesus, through his Sermon on the Mount, speaks to each of us (Matt. 5:14-16): "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
As one gains an understanding of God as All and of man as God's idea, he begins to see the nothingness of error—of everything unlike God. What a mighty weapon this knowledge is in combating the enemy! And "enemy" does not mean merely human beings met on the field of battle, but includes wrong thinking, every false claim, indeed, every pretense of power apart from God. Greed, self-aggrandizement, irritation, anger, and a host of obvious and also subtle derivations of personal self and human will comprise the enemy which must be met here and now if we are to attain peace.
It is easy to find excuses for postponing our prayer for peace. The argument that one is too busy or too far removed from the scene of the peace conferences to do any good is merely a convenient excuse for inactivity. It is equally easy to leave definite work for lasting peace to someone else. We should be alert not to give credence to such arguments; otherwise it becomes relatively easy to drift along until some untoward circumstance awakens our dulled thought to our inescapable individual responsibility.
It may be more difficult to win a sound and permanent peace than it is to win the war. Yet the very word "peace" should be a challenge to each one, a challenge to destroy the enemy—warlike thoughts— through daily prayer. A few moments spent each day in understandingly declaring the omnipotence of God will light the way to right decisions at the peace conferences. Moments sometimes used in daydreaming or contemplating what might have been provide excellent opportunities for communion with God, whereby thought is uplifted to glimpse the perfect God and His perfect idea, man created in the image and likeness of his Maker.
Clear thinking now, the reflection of Love and Truth in daily living, the understanding that "now are we the sons of God," will enable us to participate in the peace that is yet to be established. The study of Christian Science offers the opportunity for inspiring, joyous prayer, which lifts mankind out of materiality into the understanding that God is All; out of discord and confusion into the realm of Love; out of sickness and war into health and peace.
