A new day: Statement from The Christian Science Board of Directors
On Jan. 20, one president of the United States leaves office and another is sworn in. Our prayers go out to both of them. As significant as this political shift is, however, we are convinced a far more momentous and even epochal change has been stirring globally – a spiritual transformation.
As we've traveled several continents in recent years, our board has observed, and tangibly felt, a wellspring of hope rising, despite the troubles of these times. It is a fresh-faced conviction among people from South to North America, from Europe to Africa, that something better is coming – and must come. There is a growing confidence that universal peace and well-being are, against all odds, actually achievable on planet Earth.
Humanity's inborn longing for good, and the right to experience it, is our divine heritage as sons and daughters of the Creator. The one supreme intelligence of the universe is not only impelling, but tenderly sheltering every right motive we'll ever feel – and bringing it to fruition. And the greatest good that God has given each of us is to discern and experience spiritual reality, even where there seems to be only the solidity of matter and physicality.
So what can each of us do to accelerate this worldwide spiritual transformation? We believe it's this: To humbly yield to the harmonious destiny that's sweeping humanity forward. To look to what Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science, called "the sustaining infinite," more than to people. To nurture and defend in ourselves the childlike humility before God that Jesus lived. With evil and disease and corruption all around him, he proclaimed the kingdom of heaven as present reality – and proved decisively that they could be overcome in individual lives. The world has never been the same since.
Yes, inauguration day brings a change of US presidents. But the vastly more important meaning of this moment is that today we can let God change our hearts. And each heart anywhere in the world that yields, even a little, to God's transforming grace, wisdom, and love helps alter the course of humankind. Each heart that glimpses even a tiny snapshot of spiritual reality helps usher in a new and millennial day for humanity.
