What can I do toward world harmony?
No matter how formidable seem the challenges facing humanity, they can be successfully met. Finding solutions really begins with the individual, and the Bible points out what each one of us can do.
Christ Jesus said, ''This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.'' n1 Every time we forgive an injustice; every time we love in the face of hate - every time we're an influence for good in the midst of conflict - we are playing an important part in healing the world's ills. This is because the world's problems are fundamentally the culmination of individual misconceptions and differences.
n1 John 15:12.
Christian Science, which follows the teachings of the Way-shower, Christ Jesus, shows that it is a deeper, truer, more consistent expression of God's nature that mankind needs today. God is Love itself, the greatest power in existence, and in truth the only power. So no matter how great society's ills seem, our unselfish love, expressing divine Love, is the answer.
The Bible declares God to be the Father of us all. We read in Malachi, ''Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?'' n2 And the Bible also says that ''God is love.'' n3 Now, if God is Love and if each individual has his true origin in God, man's real nature as the offspring of God must be rooted in divine Love; it must be the very manifestation of Love.
n2 Malachi 2:10.
n3 I John 4:16.
But we have to perceive this in order to help bring it to light. To discern man's God-derived nature, we have to look beyond appearances to something deeper; we need to cultivate a spiritually correct view of our fellowman through prayer and through an unselfish desire to bear witness only to the truth of God's creation.
The mortal view of man is vastly different from the concept of man as the spiritual son of God. But if we gain even a glimmer of appreciation that all individuals are the children of God, we have a real basis for seeing that all our fellow beings - whether living next door to us or on the other side of the globe - can express divine Love and respond to Love naturally.
An experience I had some years ago bears this out. I was serving as a Christian Science Minister for Armed Services Personnel in a country halfway around the world. One day while putting up notices of a meeting, I was suddenly struck very hard on the back and shoved into the bulletin board. Turning around, I saw a young man of a different race with an angry look on his face. This particular military post had recently been the scene of racial unrest. Instead of feeling afraid, I felt a wave of compassion sweep over me. My heart went out to this man. I acknowledged to myself divine Love's governing presence, knowing that God's love was encompassing us both and holding us beyond the reach of ill will, misunderstanding, or harm. At once the defiant look left the man's face. We actually smiled at each other, and an unfortunate incident was quickly averted.
Referring to Love, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes: ''What a word! I am in awe before it. Over what worlds on worlds it hath range and is sovereign!'' She continues on the following page: ''Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or goodness without activity and power. As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection is more than words: it is the tender, unselfish deed done in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows; the veiled form stealing on an errand of mercy, out of a side door; the little feet tripping along the sidewalk; the gentle hand opening the door that turns toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow , and thus lighting the dark places of earth.'' n4
n4 Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 249-250.
Living the love that God imparts, bringing Love's healing power to the fear and unhappiness in our own surroundings, you and I will contribute vitally to world harmony. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
