So You Think You Need a Hug . . .

Most people do at one time or another. But at those times, what they might really need is the assurance that God is Love-and that His love for us is always present and never changing.

What if you've turned to God and yet are still feeling unloved? Well, do you see God as only good? He has created us as good as He is-perfect. The more we try to express God-Love itself-the more we will feel God with us in our lives.

You may ask, "But how do I go about expressing the love of God?" You can start by understanding every individual you meet as His child, having a unique purpose. It is natural for everyone to show the love of God. And we can put this love into practice. Some examples would be showing a smile to a passerby, being patient while waiting in a long line, having compassion for someone who is lonely, and praying for someone who is ill or sad.

As you look for opportunities to show love to others each day, the list will go on and on. And as love fills the day, you will begin to see things changing, begin to feel more peace, begin to feel loved.

The woman who discovered Christian Science in 1866, Mary Baker Eddy, learned from the Bible that love is absolutely essential to following God. She looked to the healing works of Jesus Christ as examples for everyone to follow. And her prayers for others brought healing, too. In buying shoes for needy children and donating funds to help improve the community, she showed she felt that loving God means taking practical action in loving others. Her book Miscellaneous Writings says: "We should measure our love for God by our love for man; and our sense of Science will be measured by our obedience to God,-fulfilling the law of Love, doing good to all; imparting, so far as we reflect them, Truth, Life, and Love to all within the radius of our atmosphere of thought" (p. 12).

The Apostle John is quoted in the Bible as saying, "And this commandment have we from him [Jesus], That he who loveth God love his brother also" (I John 4:21).

If we think we need to get something such as a hug in order to feel loved, we may actually be helped by giving more love. That would be consistent with how Jesus lived love.

The Bible tells of a widow whose only son had just died. As people carried her son on a bier, she was, not surprisingly, crying. The Bible says, "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother" (Luke 7:13-15). Jesus did not just put his arms around this woman, give her a comforting hug, and say, "There, there . . ." Instead he showed the immense power of God's love by reviving her son. Healing, you might say, is the spiritual hug from God, the reassurance of His total, powerful love for each of us.

I remember one day when I needed some comforting. One of my relatives had been unkind to me, and then had hung up the phone on me. I felt very bad. That night I attended a meeting at my church, where I heard the Bible read. And during the meeting I began to feel inspired, uplifted, even joyful-filled with gratitude to God. I felt surrounded by love. This was a real, spiritual sense of God's love, giving me just the hug I needed.

You can feel comforted, too. Because God is infinite and ever active, His love is comforting you, right now!

The eternal God

is thy refuge,

and underneath

are the

everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33:27