God's Guest -- You!

Taking a spiritual look at events and issues of special interest to young people.

How long have you been living in the same place? Has it been for a few years now? Just a year? Months? Only a week?

The other day I read a newspaper article about families who have had to move a lot, for one reason or another. For their kids, all those moves made school seem like a revolving door. Just when they'd begun to learn the ropes, make a few friends, understand what the teachers wanted from them, and find their way around, that door would give them another shove.

If you've had to move a lot or a little, it doesn't matter that your family had a perfectly good reason for moving. It can still be unsettling. But you can do something about all the upheaval.

First, you can turn away from the problem and turn to the solution: God. Why Him? "My problem is stress and upheaval, not religion," you think. Well, you could use some help, and who knows more than God? No one. Who is more powerful? Nobody. That makes God a pretty good place to turn. Being all-knowing and all-powerful, God is the creator of all things. Being good, He creates reality and makes only good things. He is not a revolving door. The Bible, a book about God, states, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect" (Deuteronomy 32:4). Upheaval and stress are not from God because they are definitely not good.

Anyone who goes to a Christian Science church or Sunday School will hear about these truths. (If you do not go, but might like to visit, you would be welcome.) An American woman, Mary Baker Eddy, founded the Christian Science Church on the teachings of Christ Jesus. His teachings challenge every human trouble there is -- even death.

From studying Christian Science, you will see that God is Spirit, rather than a physical being. He is the divine Parent of everyone, even of your parents and their parents before them. You are actually God's child. You are the child of Spirit. So you are spiritual. At the beginning of the Bible, God says, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Since God is infinite, He is everywhere. He sees us each as we really are -- His perfect individual expression -- satisfied, intelligent, and having control, just as He has control. So wherever you find yourself, you are never apart from Him, because you are His reflection.

We need to see ourselves more as God sees us. When we do, it calms the situation, the upheaval stops, and harmony comes. That's God's power at work in our thoughts and in our lives.

So, what about a new school? Well, Christian Science shows that God is our real source of intelligence. He is the divine Mind. And the divine Mind is everyone's real Mind. You might say God is your only real Teacher, no matter how many schoolteachers you have. Remembering this, and listening for God's -- Mind's -- perfect guidance, can lead you to just the right friendships when you need them. Trusting God frees you from being either shy or pushy. We find God's friendship expressed in great human friendships. God's good qualities -- such as loyalty, joy, understanding, and integrity -- are easy to see in true friends.

Knowing there is really only one Mind, you can catch on to a teacher's style more quickly. With God's never-failing companionship, you don't ever need to feel lost in a wilderness. Think about this, something Mrs. Eddy wrote in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God" (p. 254).

Last of all, and maybe most important of all, when there is change in our lives, we can trust that God is Love. As His offspring, we (and our parents and teachers and new acquaintances) do reflect that Love. When you express kindness and patience and have love in your heart, you reflect divine Love. You then greet new scenes, not with the awkwardness that has no place in God, but with poise and peace that come from Him alone.

You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine.