'There Is No Speech Nor Language . . .'
I read in a report that eighty-five languages are spoken in the state of California, and that driving tests are given in eighteen languages. That's quite a diversity.
But long ago the prophet Malachi asked, "Have we not all one father?" (Malachi 2:10). And later Paul the Apostle told the Athenians that God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26).
In 1866 Mary Baker Eddy discovered in her study of the Bible the Science of Christ. She became convinced that for every effect there must be a cause. She learned that God is the divine Principle, or cause, that was behind Christ Jesus' wonderful healings. She found that she could heal spiritually, as Jesus did, by understanding the divine Principle and law.
The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, elucidates the Bible. Here Mrs. Eddy wrote that Christian healing rests on God as "the nature and essence of all being" (p. 460). Further on is this statement: ". . . mortal mind must waken to spiritual life before it cares to solve the problem of being, hence the author's experience; but when that awakening comes, existence will be on a new standpoint" (p. 556). In the light of this truth, we may have to change completely our view of what constitutes existence.
I have a friend who kids me from time to time because I accept as integral to my life the idea that God is the divine Principle of good. My friend likes to remind me that there are many people in distant corners of the earth to whom such a concept is totally unknown, and that they "live just as long and are just as happy."
His argument actually reinforces my confidence in God. I know that wherever those people may be, and whatever languages they may speak, the sun, moon, and stars they see are the same ones I see above me nightly! The Psalmist sang of the heavens, "There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard" (Psalms 19:3). To me this refers to the fact that the universal Principle of being governs harmoniously throughout the universe. Wherever people are, there is God.
The Biblical premise of God's omnipotence is scientific and is logical. What are generally accepted as natural laws-laws based on what is physical and sensual-become subordinate to the law of God when we understand Him to be good and ourselves to be His reflection. God is the unifying Principle.
The Golden Rule is widely recognized as acceptable behavior. This hints at an ideal that transcends nationality and race. The book of Acts mentions many different countries and peoples, but the common thread of a universal brotherhood-of all of us being children of one God-is clear.
Many years ago I was in Moscow, looking for a poster to take back home with me. The woman in front of me was carrying a poster cylinder. I caught up with her and in my very limited Russian asked where I could get one, pointing to the cylinder. Her face lighted up with delight, and she began pushing the cylinder toward me, begging me to accept it as a gift. Here's a small example of how two people from opposite sides of the world, without benefit of language, communicated with a charitable spirit!
As Paul told the Christian church at Corinth, "There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do" (I Corinthians 12:5, 6, Contemporary English Version).
A man hath joy by the
answer of his mouth:
and a word spoken
in due season,
how good is it!
Proverbs 15:23
