Spirals of sadness aren’t inevitable
Recent reports have brought to attention that many teenage girls are feeling a greater degree of sadness and hopelessness. For instance, a teen telling her story on a program I was watching spoke of finding herself becoming swallowed up in looking for approval on social media. Not feeling able to pull herself away, she began to do things that negatively affected her well-being, and her life began to spiral downward. Thankfully, she saw her need for help, and with much support from others, she was able to come out of the darkness.
The need for healing of this issue really struck me. So right then I reached out to God in prayer, as I have found this helpful so many times in my study and practice of Christian Science.
The words “circle harmoniously” came to me. I recognized this phrase as being from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science and of the Monitor, so I looked it up and found this: “Day may decline and shadows fall, but darkness flees when the earth has again turned upon its axis. The sun is not affected by the revolution of the earth. So Science reveals Soul as God, untouched by sin and death, – as the central Life and intelligence around which circle harmoniously all things in the systems of Mind” (p. 310).
What a comfort to consider God – who is all-powerful, all-present good – as divine Mind and Life itself, and the true center of existence. As God’s children, we are in fact the spiritual expression of God’s love, harmony, and wisdom. Our true identity never includes sadness and hopelessness, because there is no place for these – either as cause or effect – in the infinite divine Life.
What strength lies in the spiritual fact that we are subject to the governing law of Life! It gives us a sure foundation to reject and overcome influences and thoughts that aren’t consistent with the joy and harmony of “the systems of Mind.” Such thoughts don’t come from God, and therefore don’t have the power they may seem to.
Many years ago as a young adult, I experienced periods of sadness. Although there wasn’t one thing that seemed to bring these on, I would find myself overcome with a sense of darkness, as though a shade had been pulled down in a room and no light could shine in.
I took heart in the biblical promise that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). This gave me the spiritual authority and impetus to reject the sadness as not coming from God, and therefore not an inevitable part of my thinking. When I prayed this way, the mental shade would lift and I would feel a joy pour in like the warmth of the sun.
This joy felt so powerful that I knew it was more than a human emotion. It was from God, and something that we all reflect naturally as God’s children. God being the only legitimate Mind and Life, the only governing cause or determinant of our identity, the natural outcome is joy and peace that aren’t dependent on material circumstances.
As I continued praying about these episodes, they ultimately stopped for good.
Even when sadness feels overwhelming, God – infinite good – remains untouched, and our nature as His deeply loved children – expressing divine goodness and joy – remains unaltered. A downward spiral is not inevitable for anyone – of any demographic. We can each let God’s love and guidance into our heart, opening the way to a firmly rooted contentedness and peace that balances and uplifts all our activities.
