Golden Ruling the world
Did you ever think about what you would do if you ruled the world? Outlaw war, maybe? In a sense, you can right now. Peace on earth begins at home. Contention between family members, clashes among neighbors or fellow workers, are but so many minor skirmishes symptomatic of a world at war. And what a simple solution we find in the Bible for getting along peacefully with one another: ''All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.''
n1 Matthew 7:12.
It's not always easy. It takes diligence, perseverance, and unselfed love to maintain the Golden Rule. Especially love. When love is the ruling, motivating force in human consciousness, harmony is the inevitable result.
A girl employed at a summer camp found that her immediate supervisor was difficult to get along with. The woman seemed harsh, critical, and overdemanding. The girl decided to uphold the Golden Rule, no matter what. She was cheerful and patient. She was a willing worker and carried out the most menial assignment without complaint. Most of all, she consciously maintained a spiritual, Bible-based view of man as the very likeness of God, of divine Love, and as therefore loving and lovable.
At the end of the summer, when the workers lined up for farewells, their supervisor went down the row shaking hands. But when she reached this employee, she smiled and said softly, ''Thank you, my dear.'' The example of love had not gone unnoticed.
Christian Science challenges all inharmony on the basis that, as Mary Baker Eddy 2 states, ''No power can withstand divine Love.'' 3 Note that here the standard is not a human, personal, limited sense of love, but the divine, universal Love that is God. Christ Jesus consistently reflected this Love. He knew that it was man's nature to do so. The Way-shower lived an example of love among the people. He saw beyond the sick or sinful outer appearance to the spiritual, perfect, real man.
n2 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.
n3 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 224.
The Master's way - the Golden Rule way-is to mentally embrace humanity in the understanding of divine Love's supremacy and of man's perpetual unity with Love. It's to support and encourage those needing our help as well as to rule out strife and divisiveness. Love's way isn't to rule over, in the sense of personal domination, but to rule out false concepts of man. Just as sunlight dissipates mist, so a spiritual view of mankind can help dissipate the mist of prejudice, hate, strife, injustice, that seems to hide God's creation from our view. The Apostle Paul declared: ''Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.'' 4 This Christly viewpoint unifies and harmonizes.
What better standard for our lives than the Golden Rule, expressed in love for our fellowman wherever we encounter him, at home or abroad. By regarding others compassionately, dealing with them understandingly, and prayerfully seeing them as forever embraced in the love of our universal Father, divine Love , we contribute immeasurably to global peace. It might even be said that we are ''Golden Ruling'' the world!
n4 Galatians 3:26, 28.
