Progress for humanity

What always comes through to me when I read The Christian Science Monitor is a sense of the universal family of man. Whether I’m reading about places in the world where progress is taking place, or where there are severe challenges, I consistently feel this is one universal family that’s being written about, every member of which is loved by God and is ultimately embraced in the divine promise and purpose stated by Christ Jesus himself: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16, 17).

Christ’s salvation for everyone is deeply spiritual, deeply Christian. It calls all of us, whoever we are, to a transformation of our thoughts and a purification of the heart. But it has tangible, outward effects as well – first and foremost of which is Christian healing.

My family tells of my great-grandfather’s healing of lead poisoning in one visit to a Christian Science practitioner. He had such difficulty walking that his two young sons had to pull him in a small wagon to the trolley station, where he was assisted aboard the trolley so he could go see the practitioner. When they went back to the station to pick him up, he jumped off the steps of the trolley and ran home, his two sons running after him, pulling an empty wagon.

To discover that, as God’s offspring, we are in fact the immortal image of Spirit, the expression of infinite Life, is to begin to understand that we are not subject to sickness, disability, or limitation. It’s to grasp in growing degree the great love that God has for us, the perfection He has bestowed on us, and His loving ability to make all of this evident to us through healing. Progress in this direction awaits each of us. Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, “Science reveals the glorious possibilities of immortal man, forever unlimited by the mortal senses” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 288).

This spiritual transformation that takes place in individual thought also happens more broadly. Human experience expresses in tangible ways humanity’s conscious and unconscious thoughts, including fundamental convictions about life itself. So as the influence of Truth grows in human consciousness, there is naturally wider evidence of it in our world. It moves thought in right directions – toward equality of the sexes, justice for all people, freedom for those who are oppressed or enslaved, wise and righteous government, civility and kindness among individuals and on the public stage, more health, less sin, less hate, and so on.

The family of man is not at its root a coalition of individuals, groups, or nations struggling to come together and stay together. God’s children are actually spiritual, the image of God – the very manifestation of the infinite, divine Mind. Each of us individually, and all of us collectively, are the offspring of God and therefore express this Mind. This divine reality, understood and progressively lived, awakens hearts and minds to the unity, goodness, and stability that divine Mind expresses in all of its children.

Science and Health says: “One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, – whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed” (p. 340).

I’m grateful for a growing sense of the family of man. And I’m grateful for a developing understanding that this family is actually God’s family, the spiritual offspring of divine Love, having one Father and Mother, one divine heritage. Our praying to distinguish what does and does not belong to Love and Her family will help all of humanity let go of the evils that don’t really belong to God or His creation – and find more safety, fulfillment, unity, and peace.

This article was adapted from an editorial in the May 9 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.