Destroying aggressive evil

Evil seems to assume more aggressive forms every day. The nuclear threat is just one manifestation of this. As a result, humanity is being forced to seek authentic peace and to find genuine safety more resolutely than ever before.

Because God did not make it, aggression in any form needs to be dealt with vigorously through prayer as a lie that can't truly attach itself to man, who is created in God's spiritual likeness. Good will, by itself, is not enough to stem aggressive evil. Nor can opinions and sophisticated arguments (or unsophisticated arguments, for that matter) halt this destructive characteristic.

We can, however, realize quietly and persistently that the whole picture of man as a limited mortal conflicting with other mortals is a counterfeit of reality, because it's not the outcome of an infinitely good God. In prayer we can replace this mistaken view of man, presented by the corporeal senses, with the spiritual, harmonious facts. The Bible is an indispensable source for these facts. It tells us that ''God created man in his own image.'' n1 Man is therefore complete, satisfied, harmonious, governed by God alone. He has ''dominion . . . over all the earth,'' n2 and this dominion includes peace.

n1 Genesis 1:27

n2 Genesis 1:26

These simple but profound facts, when pondered and accepted as revealed truth , show aggression to be nothing more than the manifestation of a mistaken, materialistic view of man, false at its core. The ideal Biblical view of man is the basis from which we can advance in prayer to nullify this impersonal evil called aggression. And it can be penetrated and progressively eliminated.

The law of God and the grace of God outlaw aggression. Mankind must conform, eventually, to the divine fact of peace, forever established by God as a fundamental aspect of His perfect spiritual universe.

Neither apathy nor the tyranny of another's pride of opinion should interfere with our silent, humble efforts to destroy evil. Love for God and man is our unopposed authority and motivation for making an individual contribution to world peace.

In prayer we can reside here and now in the consciousness of heaven, of harmony, and thereby realize the powerlessness of aggression. As we discern the omnipresence of the one God, peace, a quality of God that carries His power, will fill thought. And this Christly state of thought will be felt by others. It will help deflate aggression, whatever its form.

Humane diplomacy and intelligent, unbiased reporting and analysis are of course useful, and we can support these efforts through our prayers. We need to be reminded that, despite a history of much bloodshed, humanity has made moral progress in national and international relations. The founding of the United Nations, in fact, rested to a large extent on the agreement that territorial claims would not be settled by armed aggression. Violations of this concept do not make it invalid. This rule of international relations points to the divine right of each individual to peace, and it needs to be protected and advanced through prayer.

Ignorance, resentment, fear, suspicion, greed, and trust in force are some of the elements of the unenlightened human mind that would rob humanity of its right to peace. No individual or nation is entirely free of these traits, and indignation must be stilled in our individual thought in order that aggression be entirely disassociated from our view of man and reality.

Aggression is a sin and needs to be treated as such. Christ Jesus overcame this sin by proving its nothingness. Our seeing the unreality of aggression is not a weak standpoint, because we're siding with the infinite power of the one God. And our efforts will help to reveal and support whatever practical steps may be necessary to check this evil.

Mary Baker Eddy n3 writes, ''Truth is God's remedy for error of every kind, and Truth destroys only what is untrue.'' n4 Prayer along these lines helps preserve the present good in society and advances universal salvation.

n3 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 142-143.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE Let us. . . cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Romans 13:12