Love above all
Death is not to be celebrated. Upon hearing the news about the death of Osama bin Laden, many people feel a sense of relief. Others feel uneasiness and ask, “Is it over?”
No, it is not over unless we pray our hearts out and continue to know that only Love will stop the violence; violence itself will not stop it.
We need to seal this decade of unrest with love. I don’t mean personally loving someone who perpetrated one of the most senseless and darkest killings of the innocents. Yes, Jesus charges in the Sermon on the Mount to “love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44). This doesn’t mean we remain victims. Rather he is asking us to triumph in the fact that in the end only Love – the highest good, which some people call God – can stop violence, division, and conflict.
This is crucial not just in a moral sense but for the sake of spiritual enlightenment. Fear, hate, or dislike of anyone will inhibit our readiness to heal elsewhere in our daily lives.
If I am praying for the healing of a person who is conflicted with illness, my consciousness – the closet of prayer Jesus asked us to enter – has to be filled with spiritual qualities such as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Sound familiar? These are the qualities described in the New Testament as the “fruit of the Spirit.” And the list concludes with this statement: “against such there is no law.” I find it important to fill my consciousness with these qualities, as well as that conclusion.
There is no law against those who can hold steadfastly to these qualities as much as possible. There is no enemy, no demon, no curse, no revenge, in perfect Love. Divine Love can transform someone from hatred and violence to reason, wisdom, justice, and moral strength.
Today, what is needed is humility and not fanfare. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, wrote, “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 4).
And as the resurrection of Jesus proved, death becomes the last enemy, not the passage to heaven; for in reality we are here and now living in the kingdom of heaven – and forever will live in the kingdom of heaven. Our charge is to see more of that kingdom in our lives and in the lives of others.
Death should not and need not be celebrated. Instead, we need to celebrate life more, and see it as spiritual, full of goodness and love. We must look to the real source of this life – divine Life, God – as the unifying central light for true security, progress, and love for humanity.
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