Helping Humanity

FOR people who keep up with the news and care deeply about helping humanity, the range and complexity of the world's troubles can be discouraging. There are, of course, bright spots. We've seen in parts of the world progress toward freedom to an extent that many wouldn't have thought possible just a few years ago. But the increase in drug addiction, violent crime, promiscuity--of materialism and the evils it fosters-- makes clear that we still have more work to do.The truest remedy for mankind's ills has a spiritual basis. It's found in a deeper, more widespread worship of the one God-- Spirit. To worship Spirit in day-to-day thought and life, rather than idolizing personality, sensual pleasures and self-centered goals--this is humanity's great need. And this is an essential starting point in our own lives as we consider ways to help. Worldly thinking scoffs at such a notion. But it's that very worldly, carnal sense of things that increases human suffering. Meekly acknowledging the supremacy of God and our utter need for Him is obeying the First Commandment in the Bible "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Such obedience works to counteract the destructive tendencies of the carnal mind. It's a tangible help now for the world. We obey the First Commandment in practical ways each day through willingness to trust in God, through taking a stand for truth. Worldly thought argues that just about anything goes. But when we see the tragic results of such c allousness, we also see why this attitude is anything but harmless. Christ Jesus' teaching "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth is so important in a world where arrogance too often takes center stage and worship of God is pushed into the background as irrelevant. Another of the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, also conveys the importance of meekness and humility in our worship of the one God. The world not only needs the pure, God-centered quality of our lives, it also needs our clear realization of the true nature of God's creation. Did Deity create a race of sinful, suffering mortals, subject to the tyranny of increasingly complex forms of evil? No! God is totally good. He is infinite Love and pure Spirit. And it follows that His creation expresses His perfect nature. Man, as God's image, then, is spiritual and upright, inseparable from the creator's care. This means that he's infinitely better than he appears to be--he is the child of God. To perceive man as he really is--cared for, not cursed, living under the wise government of God, not the victim of circumstance--is not to ignore evil but to help in a powerful way to remove it. All the cynicism in the world can't change the fact that such prayer has an effect because it's based on what's spiritually true of God and man. It goes beyond appearances. All the worldly sneers at the concept of a just God who can help don't change the fact that God is our very source and sustainer and that ultimately each one of us must find refuge and salvation in Him--in Spirit. We can make a real difference to our world today through our lives and prayers, through the meekness that acknowledges God as divine Principle, and discerns what He is doing for mankind. As Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in Pulpit and Press: "You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with your divine source, and daily demonstrate this. Then you will find that one is as important a factor as duodecillions in being and doing right, and th us demonstrating deific Principle. Our help is needed by humanity today, and it begins right within our own lives.