In times of conflict and division these words from Love: the Best Response of Allby Barsom Kashish published in the Christian Science Sentinel (May 19, 1986 issue) are a guide for our prayers and actions.
From the life of our Master, Christ Jesus, and from all Christian experience, we know that truly effective love has its source and gathers its power from divine Love—the Love that knows no opposite because it is the Love that is God. Living this Love in the face of obvious injustice isn’t easy. It requires wisdom, discernment, and even spiritual “toughness” at times. But the willingness to persist in loving brings into human experience a transforming factor that simply can’t be assimilated in the world’s terms.
The article quotes Mary Baker Eddy as saying: Each day I pray:God bless my enemies; make them Thy friends; give them to know the joy and the peace of love. (Miscellany 220: 21)
Fulful ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (The Bible – Philippians 2: 2,3)
When the media report a tragedy that has happened somewhere across the world, far from us, or even in a town nearby, we may yearn to help those involved, but we may also at times feel helpless. A few years ago Margaret Powell, a Christian Scientist, found herself propelled from being an “ordinary person” into the midst of a world news event. And what she learned of the power of prayer and of forgiveness offers a concrete answer to that question “What can I do?” The following is based on a talk she gave to the North Pomfret Congregational Church in Pomfret, Vermont. The church was presenting a series of sermons on forgiveness, and because of her experience the minister invited her to speak.
This recording is of the readings on the topic: Laws That Bring Peace.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus xx. 3.) … One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.
This article was originally published in the Christian Science Monitor Daily 28 December 2023 issue. It is by Stephen Humphries a Monitor staff editor.
Is peace an attainable ideal? In a poem later adapted for the carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lamented:
And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; “For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
I’m sometimes tempted to feel that way when I read the news. But when I recently interviewed Jeremy Arnold, author of “Christmas in the Movies,” he recommended a 2005 release that illustrates how peace can unexpectedly materialize.
In “Joyeux Noël,” set during World War I, soldiers shiver inside snowy trenches on a battlefield in France. It’s Christmas Eve. When a German soldier starts singing “Silent Night,” French and Scottish battalions across enemy lines perk their ears to listen. A Scottish bagpiper starts to accompany the German singer, who boldly clambers over the parapet and walks into no man’s land. Soldiers from each of the trenches cautiously follow. After negotiating a cease-fire, the soldiers show each other pictures of their spouses, share food, and play soccer.
“Joyeux Noël,” which is French for “Merry Christmas,” not only dramatizes the famous temporary truce of 1914, but also examines its aftermath.
“When the governments and the military establishments of … all three countries heard about this truce, they were livid,” Mr. Arnold says. “A lot of these soldiers were rotated out because now their enemies were humanized and they didn’t want to kill them anymore.”
The film movingly shows how thousands of men were transformed by the Christmas spirit, says the author.
When Longfellow wrote his aforementioned poem during the American Civil War, he acknowledged how easy it is to feel helpless about peace. But he countered it with a message of hope about how we may one day sing together.
Till ringing, singing on its way, The world revolved from night to day, A voice, a chime, A chant sublime Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
… Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
This article by Emily Byquist was originally published in the February 23, 2015 issue of theChristian Science Sentinel.
It was the 1960s, and the Vietnam War was raging. Like many members of my generation, I was opposed to the war and very much wanted to help bring it to an end. I felt impelled to pray about the conflict, but it was hard to believe that the prayers of one individual could have any real impact on such a formidable problem.
Click hereto read, or listen to, the full article. In it Emily explains how, through prayer, she managed to disfuse several inharmonious and confrontational situations in her everyday life. This gave her confidence that her prayers for peace on a larger scale could be effective.
When asked how she was praying about the war in the Middle East Bethany Taylor responded by penning this letter to a young mother:
I was watching the news about Israel and Hamas. You came on talking about trying to keep your baby quiet so you wouldn’t be detected by the attackers and how your husband had been taken as a hostage. My heart went out to you, and in a sincere desire to help, I humbly reached out to God and asked how I could help, how I could pray right then. The answer came in the form of a hymn written by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy.
I began singing and praying the words: “O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; / O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour” (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 207). I felt assured of God’s ever-present peace, joy, and omnipotent power right then and there for you and all who are feeling alone and afraid, even when in the midst of terror and war.
As a young mother, I was widowed and found myself raising my three-year-old son on my own. I leaned on God’s mothering and fathering my son and me, and I know we can confidently rely on that same love here and now. As a recent Sentinel Watch podcast put it, “Love hasn’t left this home” (Tony Lobl, “Love hasn’t left this home,” cssentinel.com, September 11, 2023).
Love hasn’t left Israel, or Gaza, or Ukraine, or any other area experiencing war and conflict. Even though I am just one individual in a country far removed from these places, I actively pray to know that God’s love is always present, dependable, steadfast, all-powerful. “Thou Love that guards the nestling’s faltering flight! / Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight,” that hymn says. We are each God’s nestlings, whether struggling with a small problem or the horror of war. We can feel and reflect God’s mothering love here and now.
Another line in this hymn, which I have known and loved for decades, is “Love is our refuge; only with mine eye / Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall.” But as long as I have been singing this hymn, this was the first time I understood that Mrs. Eddy was saying that we can stay conscious of the spiritual fact that divine Love, God, is our—and everyone’s—ever-present refuge. When, instead, we begin to examine the snares, pits, falls, or material circumstances, that is when we feel immobilized by fear, and illness, conflict, hatred, and evil seem so much larger than Love’s ability to handle them. But that isn’t so. As we learn in Christian Science, God is All-in-all.
“His habitation high is here, and nigh, / His arm encircles me, and mine, and all,” the hymn assures. And I am thinking, in quiet prayer, just how it embraces you and all the mothers in the region.
Love, Bethany Taylor
This response to the war was originally published in the October 19, 2023 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
In light of the brutal attack on Israel and its punishing response, many are seeking comfort in prayer. More than anyone, those still anxiously waiting for news about their loved ones’ safety and whereabouts, and those grieving their loss, need to feel God’s loving presence and almighty protection.
I thought of a Jewish family that my tour group crossed paths with several months ago in Israel. The family had fled from their home to escape sporadic rocket fire and was unsure if their home would still be there when they returned. I wondered, too, about a Palestinian friend who had essentially been stateless his whole life. All were gentle, peaceful individuals caught up in a cycle of fear, misunderstanding, and hatred. Were they safe?
During grievous times, prayers may sometimes seem futile and words hollow. But there are beautiful promises in the Bible that unburden the heavy heart and wing it with hope. For instance, in the book of the prophet Isaiah: “For thus saith the Lord…. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” (66:12, 13).
And in Psalms: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me” (139:7–11).
What could be more comforting than to feel in the deepest recesses of our heart that not a single one of God’s children can be separated from Her love and saving power? … Continue reading …
Did you know that International Women’s Day was first observed in the early 1900s? And I was surprised to learn that protests against gender inequality started much earlier, with the First Women’s Rights Convention being held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.
It’s interesting to me that this was also the era in which the founder of this news organization, Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910), experienced profound changes in her life. She went from being a single mother struggling with chronic health problems and financial difficulties to being a well-known religious leader and the founder of a worldwide church.
Despite the inequality faced by women of her time, Mary Baker Eddy succeeded as an author, publisher, editor, healer, lecturer – all at a time when women could not vote and were considered incapable of managing their own affairs. Her book on spirituality and healing (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”) was included on the Women’s National Book Association list of “75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World.” (Listen to this complete article or continue reading)
This recording is of the readings on the topic:Secure Amid the Storm.
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For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(The Bible KJV – Romans 8: 38, 39)
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Every Wednesday at 6.15pm a Testimony Meeting is held at the Christian Science church in Canberra (corner of Macquarie and Bligh Streets, Barton). At these meetings short readings on a particular topic are followed by time for members of the congregation to share how they have been helped and healed through prayer.
Christian Science Canberra 