Love that dissolves political tensions
Are conflict and division the inevitable outcomes of disagreements about politics? Not when we look to God’s unifying love as the basis of our relationships with others.
I have been praying about political tensions, which boiled over with the riot at the U.S. Capitol building earlier this year. Deep division seems to permeate even everyday relationships with friends and family. Even when not being voiced, the question of who is right or wrong can feel like an invisible tug-of-war game going on in our thinking.
To navigate this, I’ve turned to prayer for guidance. The inspired Word of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, have helped me understand more clearly that there is a divine Truth that unifies and heals. We experience this more tangibly as we learn more about our relation to this Truth, God.
For instance, the idea that each of us is a child of God is a divine fact that’s applicable to every situation. It’s the basis for loving our neighbor as ourself, a unifying concept that can also dispel fear. Jesus taught, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27, New King James Version).
Reflecting on this line of Scripture, I’ve been inspired by the ideas of love, strength, and seeing the best in others. That doesn’t mean ignoring the bad, but rather acknowledging that infinite Love, or God, sustains us in God’s universe, which is always harmonious. This Love is a solvent that dissolves whatever is not loving.
As the Bible says, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7). This fearless love can help us build relationships without divisiveness, on a foundation of understanding and accepting God’s law of divine harmony that brings us all together under the unfailing power of God, good.
Each of us has an innate relation to Truth that empowers us to affirm and feel the unity among us all as God’s children. As our relation to Truth is revealed, God leads us to progress and guides us to humbly build on the firm foundation of a divine source of peace. Whenever daunting circumstances seem to threaten, we can lean on the spiritual guidance found in the Bible and Science and Health. The truths outlined in these books are practical tools in times of trouble, guideposts along unfamiliar roads.
For instance, Science and Health explains that God’s power is always able to help us, whatever we are facing: “Hold perpetually this thought, – that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, overlying, and encompassing all true being” (p. 496). We’re always under the protection of divine Love, and no roadblocks can hinder God’s infinite power. God’s goodness cannot ebb and flow. It is here to leaven and harmonize thought in any situation, opening the door for peaceful interactions with others.
With these ideas in mind, I’ve started looking to God’s grace, truth, and love as the foundation of relationships. These ideas have helped me approach potentially controversial discussions in a more graceful, harmonious, and productive way.
Whatever the situation seems to be, we can know that our highest duty is to reflect God, to listen to and follow the unerring direction of the Divine. Looking for God’s goodness expressed in every single individual, regardless of any material label, is what enabled Jesus to demonstrate God’s healing power to the masses, in a range of daunting situations. We can follow what Jesus taught, and as we continue to face new challenges, we can use the spiritual resources abundantly available to us through God, our one true refuge.
Some more great ideas! To hear a podcast discussion about a dependable solution to health problems, please click through to the latest edition of Sentinel Watch on www.JSH-Online.com titled “Christian Science – revelation, reason, demonstration.” There is no paywall for this podcast.