‘Deep and conscientious protests’
Over the past year, protests throughout the world have shed light on a desire to stand for what’s fair and right. Here’s an article exploring the power of another kind of protest: Prayer affirming everyone’s nature as fellow children of God – sisters and brothers.
Just a few weeks ago I was in India, where people in numerous cities were showing their solidarity for the equality and protection of all by peacefully protesting a controversial citizenship law. Many Indians see the law as intolerant toward particular faith groups and secularism.
Over the last year, we’ve seen protests in various parts of the world, perhaps reflecting a desire to gain a collective voice and to rally for what an individual believes, in his or her heart, to be fair and right.
Taking steps to do what we humanly can to help our brothers and sisters in need, regardless of political and social divides, is important. But there’s more we can do: We can humbly acknowledge everyone as God’s people, and value their fundamental divine right to live as free and worthy citizens, right here and now.
The founder of this news organization, Mary Baker Eddy, was a humanitarian, never shirking her duty to do what she could to uphold the virtues of equality and love in her community. But she also saw a higher and more vital way to follow in the path Christ Jesus pointed out. In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” she describes Jesus’ prayers as “deep and conscientious protests of Truth, – of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love” (p. 12).
Here, Truth and Love are synonyms for God. Each of us can participate in affirming the true spiritual freedom of all through protests of the heart and mind, inspired by the deep spiritual reality that every woman and man is the individual and complete reflection of the one good God, the divine Mind.
God is as close to us as our thought of Him. As divine Mind’s reflection, or spiritual image, we coexist with Deity. Yet God also maintains our individuality. Each of God’s children magnifies the qualities of the divine Mind in unique ways.
The message of God being our common Parent is central to the teachings of the Bible. Christ Jesus taught his disciples how to pray by giving them the Lord’s Prayer, which begins with “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9). We are brothers and sisters in God’s universal family. A line from the spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer found in Science and Health explains, “For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All” (p. 17). We can, in confidence, lean on the tender yet strong embrace of the universal divine Parent, Love, and silently protest for true freedom, realized in equality, protection, and dignity.
Humble, gracious yielding to God’s law, which is expressed to us through the silent but powerful presence and activity of the Christ, or Truth, releases us from fear, pride, frustration, greed, and anger. It purifies motives, paving the way for outcomes that bring about greater unity and goodwill even in bad situations. When we allow divine Love to touch our hearts, we realize that division is no part of God or His creation, and must naturally fade away. Divine Love also gives us patience while this is taking place, like the gently opening petals of a rose in the spring.
Science and Health explains: “One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ...” (p. 340). Prayer affirming everyone’s unity with divine Love, which we reflect together as brothers and sisters, is a powerful protest. It enables a higher justice and love for all to prevail within our hearts. It is our divine right to patiently nurture these qualities, to love them, and to claim them for ourselves and for all humanity.