Glory bound

THE seizing and terrorizing of hostages may be one means of getting political leverage or worldwide attention. Terrorist tactics may be aimed at generating such fear that observers even thousands of miles from actual attacks will allow their lives to be manipulated by the implication of future threats to safety. But terroristic motives and actions are not bound for the true glory of divine reality. The spiritually watchful are well able to counteract the mesmeric influence terrorism would wield. Through prayer we can prove that not even momentary glory can come through inglorious ways and means. They contradict the Biblical teaching about the source of man's majesty. It is God, divine Love, who crowns His likeness, man, with glory that is permanent and loving to all. Yet how prone we are to forget we wear this crown of glory! Through the ages, when individuals have appealed to God, He has reaffirmed the undimmed glory of His beloved. The Psalmist accompanied his question ``What is man?'' with the answer that was revealed to him: ``Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands.''1 Christ Jesus' exemplification of true manhood in his life and works proves the integrity of this answer. Jesus stood, even in the face of vile ignominy, as the very epitome of glory. His resurrection shows that one glories through the understanding of deathless, fearless divine Life over the most shameful possible inhumanity. Yet Jesus' healing and redeeming works show that one cannot triumph over heinousness without understanding and proving in some degree that all share man's crown of glory. In modern times the way pointed out by Jesus has been illumined and explained through the Science of Christ, the truth of God and man that Jesus taught his followers to practice. Christian Science, discovered and founded by Mary Baker Eddy, completes the divine revelation, begun in the Bible, of what man is and what he is not. Christian Science avails us of the understanding of man's inseparability from God--the understanding we need in order to stand up to and reverse such ungodly trends as the increasing current tendency to force and accede to negotiations at the knife point of terrorism. Mrs. Eddy writes: ``The origin, substance, and life of man are one, and that one is God,--Life, Truth, Love. The self-existent, perfect, and eternal are God; and man is their reflection and glory. Did the substance of God, Spirit, become a clod, in order to create a sick, sinning, dying man? The primal facts of being are eternal; they are never extinguished in a night of discord.''2 We awake from the mortal dream of disunity and discord as we prove step by step that the glory of man outshines the grossness that affronts human dignity. However a terrorist situation comes to our attention, we can ill afford to let our thoughts be held hostage by fear and hatred. Our prayers are needed to help break the mesmerism of terror, release the innocent, bring the guilty to repentance, solve the differences that provoke conflict, and so glorify God. But as long as our thoughts are locked in shock, merely deploring instead of denouncing and denying all that suggests God to be an imperfect creator, we are far from praying. The standard of Christly prayer rings clearly in Mrs. Eddy's words: ``Christian Science takes naught from the perfection of God, but it ascribes to Him the entire glory.''3 The brazen belief that evil can mimic divine authority and so gain prestige has no power to perpetrate its lies--unless we concede such power to it through terroristic aggression or terrorized submission. The understanding that God, good, remains forever omnipotent equips us to unmask the bullying deception of animal magnetism. Spiritual understanding assures us that we are endowed with the wisdom, patience, and strength to assert our dominion over the temptations to dominate or be dominated. We are bound for glory, not for terror. As captivity itself is taken captive, bound by glory, we find ourselves not only bound for glory but bound to glory, proving man's inseparability from divine goodness and grandeur. And as we steadfastly witness for God, omnipotent good, we realize more and more that His is the only power and glory--the only reality--now and always. 1Ps. 8:4-6. 2Miscellaneous Writings, p. 187. 3Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 262. This is a condensed version of an editorial that will appear in the May 19 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.