Praying to end moral voids

At times moral voids – environments of wrong or evil activity that can include a kind of mental blindness that keeps it from being faced – seem to emerge. Sometimes it may happen on an individual level, or other times on a larger scale, such as in institutions and governments.

Quite frankly, sometimes even thinking about addressing moral voids can seem an overwhelming and out-of-reach task. But one thing I do know from experience is that turning sincerely to God in prayer for His view always brings healing answers. These strong declarations from the Bible encourage me: “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:24). Also, “The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out” (John 1:5, Contemporary English Version).

Christian Science, which I have studied and practiced for decades, has always brought me a deeper, clearer delineation of biblical truths. Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, gleaned from the Bible the infinitude of God as ever-present divine Love and Spirit. Then she spent the rest of her life helping others to see the healing power of this spiritual understanding of the Scriptures.

Early on in the Bible is this passage that references “void”: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). Mrs. Eddy’s book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” sheds spiritual light on this verse: “The divine Principle and idea constitute spiritual harmony, – heaven and eternity. In the universe of Truth, matter is unknown. No supposition of error enters there. Divine Science, the Word of God, saith to the darkness upon the face of error, ‘God is All-in-all,’ and the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe. Hence the eternal wonder, – that infinite space is peopled with God’s ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms” (p. 503).

Accepting these powerful truths can give us a confident hope grounded in the spiritual fact that the totality of God, Spirit, doesn’t allow for a void; there is no depletion or barrenness of goodness in God or His creation. All of us as God’s, Love’s, children are truly embraced in this totality as His spiritual offspring – the reflection of God, good. Because the one God fills all space with goodness, evil in whatever form – including hatred, tyranny, and oppression – can be seen for what it is: lawless, itself void of any valid justification or power to govern anyone.

Letting the all-encompassing law of divine Love inspire our prayers and thoughts empowers us to take steps – one after another, no matter how small – that cause us to feel and know that God, good, is present wherever a moral void seems to be. The Christ – divine Love’s saving message of truth – is constantly at hand to give us light, guide us, and reveal to us how we can contribute to healing moral voids in our own lives and in the world around us.

At one point while I was praying about this, the phrase “transitional qualities” came to thought. I recognized this as one of the marginal headings that are included throughout Science and Health. This particular heading appears near the words, “Evil beliefs disappearing.” Mrs. Eddy linked the disappearance of false beliefs about the nature of man – such as the notion that we are flawed and mortal, rather than spiritual and invulnerable to evil – to the expression of moral qualities. These qualities include humanity, honesty, compassion, hope, and faith, among others (see p. 115).

Each one of us, because of our inherently good and pure nature, derived from Spirit, can express such qualities wherever needed. We can let these absolutely essential qualities permeate our everyday lives and encounters – from the most mundane situations to more elevated activities. They can serve as thought-windows through which more of the light of spiritual reality and understanding can pour through, showing us the abundance and power of God’s goodness and the powerlessness of evil.

I have experienced firsthand how a genuine willingness to express more humility or honesty awakens us from apathetic or numbed wrong thinking and activity to what is right and to the desire to follow that path. In those situations, not only was my experience changed for the better, but I also gained more understanding of my (and everyone’s) true identity as purely spiritual.

We can chip away at moral voids even though it may at times appear to be a slow process. Even a little more God-inspired humanity and compassion expressed daily can be like the light at dawn, emerging moment by moment until the full light of God’s blessed goodness everywhere can’t be missed.