Last week’s Christian Science Sentinel magazine titled “Unconditional Love” gave me some great food for thought. And what a beautiful magazine it is filled with several wonderful articles on the nature, essence, and meaning of unconditional love.
Unconditional love is what God feels for each of us. It doesn’t matter if we have been good or bad, God is still loving us and caring for us. And Love doesn’t just keep us in a position of behaving in a way that is not our highest, but Love uplifts us, corrects us and shows us the true path – the path that includes health, blessings, happiness, and helping others.
Christ Jesus demonstrated unconditional love beautifully. And he did it as an example of what we should do also. He said in essence that we are known as his disciples because we love one another. He included many wonderful examples of this unconditional love in washing the feet of his disciples and in praying for forgiveness for those who crucified him. And told us that we should forgive our neighbor an endless amount of times – forever!
This, coupled with the spirituality.com chat “Prayer for progress in government”, has led to some wonderful prayerful ideas for me. The speaker, Bruce Fitzwater, CSB, a practitioner and teacher of Christian Science in Portland, Oregon, talked about the need to pray with a trust in God’s ability to direct and govern the world instead of praying for a particular outcome with our limited knowledge of circumstances. He also showed great steps in the progress of peace in examples such as the Berlin wall and in his own life overcoming hostility and intimidation in places in Africa.
One of the ideas he shared that I especially enjoyed was that progress is a clearer understanding of God and of what is real and power. I love thinking of this as the real measure of our progress. And this spiritualization of thought is going on each moment.
We can see evidence of this in businesses that do good, honest, and moral business, having wonderful relationships with their customers, putting forth good products, and operating in a smooth and orderly way. In the same way, we can see individuals governed by forgiveness, gentleness, neighborly love and kindness. This comes from a sense of knowing that there isn’t any limitation or lack.
We don’t need to worry about trying to get our own needs and wants taken care of and undercutting others. God is supplying all of His creation with all they need and is elevating our desires and wants each moment to those, which bless and include everyone.
In fact, another point this speaker made was that our government representatives re-present its citizens. So if the citizens are acting in a way that is undercutting others or dishonest or greedy, than of course the representative can only represent that. However, if honesty, justice, goodness, mercy, tenderness and kindness govern the people, than that is all that can be represented.
I have loved knowing this in terms of my own taxes, business and in dealing with corporations. If I want Truth to be the only power in my life than I have to exhibit Truth and hold to it firmly. And if I really know and believe that supply is absolutely spiritual than no taking what isn’t rightfully mine, or withholding of good, or lying can actually bless me. Since supply and goodness come solely from God, and not from matter than living in absolute accord with God’s character and nature is what enriches me, keeps me safe, and blesses me with all that I need.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,
Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice,
health, holiness, love — the
kingdom of heaven — reign
within us, and sin, disease,
and death will diminish until
they finally disappear. (Pg. 248)
This is what our role is – to let God’s light shine through us so that creation is seen and known as 100% spiritual. I read a wonderful analogy in the Sentinel I referred to earlier which said that the sun reaches the earth through it’s rays; just as God/Heaven reaches the earth through His/Her expression – man and woman and all of God’s varied ideas.
So if we want to see more peace and less violence, more good and less evil, more honesty less corruption, we can each be that light shining on earth. We can live and express our prayer (that which we want to see for the world and our experience) in our lives.
One last point the speaker made was that trusting in the power of love and goodness is Christianity. Anger, fear, resentment all come from thinking there is another power than God. But when we trust that God, good, divine Love, is the only power, presence and authority, just as Jesus and his disciples did, than we can’t help but continue to move forward with the spirit of love, truth, helpfulness, and happiness and have total victory over error.
Mrs. Eddy says,
The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes
the achievement possible. (Pg. 199)
Honesty is spiritual power.
Dishonesty is
human weakness, which forfeits
divine help. (Pg. 453)
Right motives
give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to
speech and action. (Pg. 454)
Spirituality & Healing 