The Unbreakable Cycle of Good

`IF only we could break the cycle!'' The words seemed to leap out at me as I sat listening to an early morning radio program. The subject was child abuse, and the speaker told of adults who had suffered abuse in their childhood and in turn often abused their own children. But we don't have to accept the inevitability of evil as having power to perpetuate itself! I wanted to reach out to that child expert and tell her about the cycle of spiritual good I was experiencing in my life.

God is good and is ever present. Therefore good is all- powerful and without opposition; the infinity of good, God, precludes the existence of evil. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in her book The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, ``The cycle of good obliterates the epicycle of evil'' (p. 270). This cycle of good can be identified as the truth of God as a loving Parent, as a Father who tenderly cares for and protects His beloved children.

Christ Jesus constantly referred to God as his Father. In the Lord's prayer he included each and every one of us with the words ``our Father.'' No one is left out.

Jesus loved children. In the Bible the book of Mark describes how the disciples incurred the Master's displeasure by trying to send away the children who had been brought to him. Jesus on the other hand called the children to him, and, the Bible tells us, ``He took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them'' (10:16). With this action of love he rebuked the disciples and showed us a way to cherish all children.

As was true for the disciples, we cannot afford to send the children away. As we grow to know and love our identity as God's child, we will see wonderful changes take place around us. The confidence of knowing ourselves to be God's loved, wholly spiritual children enables us to recognize others in the same light. This is the way the cycle of good is perceived in operation.

After a divorce, the task of bringing up my two children alone seemed at times overwhelming. The year my son turned sixteen, for instance, my role as parent was severely tested. He believed he had reached the age where it was time to break away from parental authority and lead his own life. I felt inadequate to cope with his continual testing and there were times when, like the disciples, I would have liked to send him away.

I had to turn to God as the Parent of us both. Whenever situations got out of control, I prayed more earnestly to understand my own relationship with God as His child. I knew that my son could never be separated from the true Father-Mother and that God, his divine Parent, would guide and direct him no matter what evil enticements seemed to surround him. I felt safe and confident and knew my son was safe in God's care also. I didn't somehow have to make him be sensible.

The following Christmas my son handed me a card in which he had written, ``Well mum we made it!'' This was his way of acknowledging the presence of God during that difficult year and the harmonious reinstatement of our relationship.

We all have the opportunity to know and experience the ever-availability of the unbreakable cycle of good. Its ever-present power destroys evil and brings to light manour--true identity as the child of God. As we claim our unbroken relationship with God, good, we can prove that evil has no cycle at all. It can be brought to an end through our unity with good, no matter what form evil has taken in our lives.