There is no real way to justify a massacre such as the one in Jos, Nigeria. But rather than focusing on the horror of the crime, each of us can help foster peace and understanding through prayer.]]> Rosalie E. Dunbar | from The Christian Science Monitor

“I don’t think anybody should begin to talk about [a] reprisal attack. We must continue to foster peace and understanding,” said Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State governor in Nigeria (Nigerian Tribune, March 10). He was referring to this week’s massacre of several hundred people, including women and children, in Jos, the capital of Plateau State. Various motives for the massacre have been mentioned: that it was a reprisal for an attack on a different village by some Jos residents, motivated by hatred between Christians and Muslims, or that it was the result of tensions between two different tribes. Perhaps it is a combination of these and more.

Whatever the human reasoning might be, there is no real way to justify such a massacre. But rather than focusing on the horror of the crime, each of us can help “foster peace and understanding” through prayer.

Whenever there’s confusion or a clashing of minds about what to do or how to do it, I find this statement from Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures to be helpful: “Mind is God. The exterminator of error is the great truth that God, good, is the only Mind, and that the supposititious opposite of infinite Mind—called devil or evil—is not Mind, is not Truth, but error, without intelligence or reality” (Science and Health, p. 469).

The divine Mind can protect, direct, and reveal whatever is needed in order to restore peace and harmony to Jos and the area around it. Being all-intelligent, Mind can inspire the people involved to seek a peaceful solution that can eliminate the desire for reprisal attacks and lead to reconciliation.

It helps to understand that each individual is actually spiritual, the child of Mind, created for a good purpose, made with love, designed to be safe and satisfied. This is who and what we are, and it’s true for each citizen of Jos also. Just as a human parent cherishes his or her children, so does God love each of us no matter what race we are, what tribe we belong to, or what religion we follow.

The spiritual fact that we are all children of divine Love removes ethnic hatred and the desire for revenge with the realization that all are united through our divine Parent. The Apostle Paul beautifully defined the implications of this fact when he told the Athenians that God had made “of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth … that they should seek the Lord … and find him” (Acts 17:26, 27).

We find God through obeying what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments, namely, loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves. The unity of spirit that comes from thinking of others as united in the one divine Mind, and of God as fully accessible to all people, makes it much harder to hate anyone. When each individual becomes our brother or sister, we don’t knowingly antagonize any of them; nor can they be motivated to antagonize us.

Such accomplishments don’t happen in a vacuum, however. If the mental atmosphere is filled with violence and hatred, it can be hard to resist the temptation to follow the crowd or to feel just plain terrified. There’s a wonderful example of protection from hate-filled crowds in Luke’s Gospel. When a mob of people wanted to murder Jesus by throwing him off a hill, the Bible reports that “he passing through the midst of them went his way” (Luke 4:30).

The one Mind is available to guard the residents of Jos from the threats of “the carnal mind”—that which would oppose itself to God (see Rom. 8:7)—and keep them in a safe haven.

This safety may take many different forms, according to the need of the individual. But in each case, divine Mind can and will guide the individual, as he or she listens for and to this guidance.

Our prayers can support the willingness for everyone to obey the inspiration that Mind is continuously sending all people, especially in areas where understanding and reconciliation are needed. Even when the desire to respond with pure human willfulness is strong, this Mind can eliminate selfishness and build bridges of understanding and love.

This spiritual journey may not be a short one, but the most important point is to start and to keep going. Our prayers can support the efforts for peace and understanding in Jos, and everywhere.

Rosalie E. Dunbar is news editor for the Christian Science magazines.

What does it take to overcome indecision? Prayer can overcome all forms of hesitation, instability, and confusion. It’s actually natural for each of us to think and act in Godlike ways, to express a spiritual sense of authority any time there’s a decision to be made.]]> Cheryl Ranson | from The Christian Science Monitor

“You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.” A pithy and humorous observation. But vacillating between two choices—especially those involving right and wrong—is common. And it’s no laughing matter.

Indecisiveness often paralyzes us. It can sap our productivity and undermine our confidence. So what does it take to overcome chronic, or occasional, indecision? I’ve found that persistent prayer overcomes all forms of hesitation, instability, and confusion. It’s actually natural for each of us to think and act in Godlike ways, to express a spiritual sense of authority any time there’s a decision to be made.

According to the scriptural record, man—meaning both men and women—is God’s crowning creation, made in His image (see Genesis 1). As the image of God, we are inseparable from Him. And because He is the source of all good and only good, we can trust Him with our questions about what to do. Understanding this anchors our thought, replacing uncertainty with spiritual resolve.

This resolve is not a “just do it!” act of will. Willpower has its source in the same set of assumptions that can lead to wavering or hesitancy—the belief that we are mortal beings who can see only parts of the picture. That we are mistake-prone or that we lack a solid foundation for decision-making. When we think along those lines, leaving God out of the equation, even the best intentions can lead to poor choices or broken resolutions.

Truly decisive thinking subordinates human willfulness to a humble admission that God can and does guide us. It’s a joyous expectation that we will know how to hear and follow His direction. The prophet Isaiah promises, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isa. 30:21).

Strong examples of persistent prayer to God for guidance abound in the Bible. Nehemiah relied firmly on God to overcome his enemies’ repeated attempts to derail his work. Jacob turned around his history of willfulness and deceit, in a single night of focused spiritual reasoning about his relation to God.

Perhaps most notably, Jesus expressed an unfaltering commitment to doing God’s will, even during the agonizing hours before his arrest and crucifixion. Throughout his career, his spiritually decisive thinking led to consistent healing—for example, in raising Lazarus from the dead, in transforming the life of a woman accused of breaking the law, in restoring to life a child who had died.

While most of us won’t need to face such dramatic situations, the same spiritual concepts that Jesus taught, and that Mary Baker Eddy articulated in her discovery of Christian Science, show us how to act with assurance in every circumstance. When we trust God’s totally good, entirely dependable nature for direction in making decisions, confusion can’t stop us in our tracks. Not a single doubt can erode the substantiality of spiritual reality or undermine our ability to discern it.

Whenever decisiveness is called for, I look to these words in the book of James: “Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:16, 17). Commenting on that statement, Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “God is not the shifting vane on the spire, but the corner-stone of living rock, firmer than everlasting hills” (Unity of Good, p. 14).

With God as our “corner-stone of living rock,” we can find a balance between thought and action. And moments of decision will become moments of spiritual authority.

It’s been argued that political hostility in the US has evolved into something inextinguishable. That argument, though, overlooks the anger-ending power of prayer. To end a big blaze, pray with an even bigger spiritual fact.]]> Channing Walker | from The Christian Science Monitor

All fires start small. That’s why firefighters move so fast in the opening moments following a call. If they can smother a small blaze before it takes hold, it never becomes a 200,000-acre monster, or even a two-acre heartbreaker. Smoldering anger is a bit like that. It may start with a small, nastily worded comment. Will it then spread into something larger? It doesn’t have to. If, for instance, it’s pounced on with sincere regret on one side and genuine forgiveness on the other—and if those responses are glimpsed as having a basis in genuine love—then smoldering anger is brought to a quick end. Healing happens. Peace is restored.

What about the anger raging across the political scene in the United States? It’s been a long time since anyone called that small. TV commentators on one end of the spectrum hurl verbal Molotov cocktails at the other. That gets matched by their counterparts on the other end, doing pretty much the same thing. And so the anger, and the blame, burn on. One-on-one Republican/Democrat encounters, where cooler heads manage to prevail, won’t snuff out this firestorm. But at least they don’t add to it—a modest, but still worthy goal.

How to end the big blaze? It’s been argued that the US is so deeply divided, and the flames of animosity are so sweeping, that the nation has become ungovernable. The implication is that the political hostility has evolved into something inextinguishable. That argument, though, overlooks the anger-ending power of prayer. To end a big blaze, pray with an even bigger spiritual fact.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, states a huge truth. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). No, this is not simply a nice thought or theory from the Bible: It’s a powerful spiritual reality. Christ, the message of divinely derived unity, comes from God to human consciousness. Christ leaves no one out. Christ leaves nothing unchanged. Christ heals. The transforming fact that we “are all one in Christ” falls on singed human hearts like a spring rain. Thoughts, touched by the Christ, irresistibly change for the better. So does the political landscape. Willingness to hold to these spiritual perceptions, even before they show up on the human scene, is central to prayer-based healing.

Mary Baker Eddy, a devoted follower of Jesus, as well as the founder of the Monitor, touched on the unifying power of the Divine, which transcends politics, economics, race, fear, and other divisive issues. As part of a discussion of the First Commandment, she wrote, “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” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 340). Realize that in prayer, and anger begins to cool. As smoke clears, common ground comes into view.

When we need God, we can feel His-Her touch and loving care. From these moments we learn to trust this Father-Mother God day by day. With this trust in God comes the inevitable answer to whatever problem or question we’re facing.]]> Joan S. Hunt | from The Christian Science Monitor

One morning I was standing on a platform in front of several hundred people. It was a business meeting, and I was providing some facts, figures, dates, and information. My presentation was two pages long. When I finished reading the first page and brought the second page forward, it was blank. The second half of my report was not there.

At moments like that, can we trust God? Can we be sure of His love and care for us? Will He come through for us when we need His help?

Faith in God is a basic element of Christianity, along with the simple promise of God’s love for each of us.

Over centuries of painting, artists have struggled to represent man reaching out to God and His present and powerful response. Some might say the outstretched hands on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are the most notable portrayal of this reaching and touching. To me this portrayal of God, symbolized in this brilliant work by Michelangelo as a loving Father figure in the sky, with fingertip stretched to the hand of the reaching one, depicts the first line of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:9).

Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Monitor, gave a spiritual interpretation of that opening line. She wrote, “Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 16). I love that this line also includes God’s mothering qualities and a sense of the ever-present harmony that God’s presence reveals.

We feel those qualities in the moments when we need God and we feel His-Her touch and loving care. From these moments we learn to trust this Father-Mother God, day by day. It’s the times when we let go and say, “I can’t do this. Take it, God—it’s Yours.” And God does. And with this trust in God comes the inevitable answer to whatever problem or question we’re facing.

That very “take it” line came to me that morning on the podium. When I first realized the second page of my report was missing, I began to panic. Then I thought how unnecessary it was that I should disturb this important meeting by making embarrassed explanations or by confused searching for the right information. My next thought was the simple prayer of reaching out to God: “Take it—it’s Yours.” And God did. Even though I’d made no attempt to memorize the information, I communicated accurately and articulately the details of my report, apparently without anyone realizing that I was “reading” from a blank sheet of paper.

As I left the platform, I marveled at the ready response to my cry for help. In that moment I felt the inspiration expressed in another art form, the poetic psalms of the Bible, particularly, “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10). Each time we experience even a touch of God’s guiding and helping us, we are individually proving that heaven and earth are one.

Children are not defenseless in God’s sight, but rather are sheltered by God, divine Love. As God’s children, they are not neglected and unloved—two of the underlying issues surrounding childhood obesity. Their Father-Mother God is always tending to His-Her little ones, hovering over them, nourishing them, and nurturing them.]]> Rebecca Odegaard | from The Christian Science Monitor

Most people will admit to having unexpected learning opportunities when becoming parents. I had many, but now that childhood obesity is in the arena of public thought and discourse, one particular observation I had when I was a new parent comes to mind.

When each of our children arrived, I noticed that whether they were taking liquid food as infants, or increasingly solid foods as they grew, when they were satisfied, their little mouths simply clamped shut and no amount of coaxing or cajoling could pry them open. It didn’t matter what I thought they needed to eat or how much; they had a decisive sense of wisdom about their intake.

The attention being given to childhood obesity challenges this innate ability to self-govern that I observed, for the underlying premise is that children lack such discernment, or that it is lost.

Truly, children require and desire education, guidance, and discipline as they navigate making choices about eating, as in all areas of their lives. A successful way to achieve this in raising our children is to recognize that they do have right inclinations, and that these need to be cherished and encouraged as they grow. That was certainly another one of my early discoveries as a parent: children are not blank canvases upon which adults paint. They are complete and whole children of God. Viewing them in this way brings out their innate natural goodness, which is, in fact, what we love about them. Rather than seeing little malleable mortals, we can see the spiritual essence of their identity, as Christ Jesus did.

On one occasion when Jesus was presented with children while teaching, his disciples at first tried to deny them access to him. Jesus corrected his disciples and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16, New King James Version).

To my sense, Jesus was using this occasion to teach that children are entirely worthy, of great value to God, and belong securely in God’s kingdom as necessary, full-fledged citizens. Understanding this fact about children, and conscientiously supporting their naturally wholesome inclinations, is fundamental in ensuring that they form good habits. In God’s view, we are all His, and neither our apparent youth nor agedness discounts our wholeness and worth. Jesus continued, “Assuredly I say to you, whosoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Mary Baker Eddy, a devout follower of Jesus and the discoverer of Christian Science, commented on Jesus’ love for children: “Jesus loved little children because of their freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 236).

What is certainly right is for our children to be freed from heavy and burdensome impositions on them, robbing them of the very childlikeness that includes wisdom, innocence, and attraction to good. Some of these impositions are that children are vulnerable, easily perverted, and susceptible to prevalent trends of materialism and sensuality.

Children are not defenseless in God’s sight, but rather are sheltered by God, divine Love. As God’s children, they are not neglected and unloved—two of the underlying issues surrounding childhood obesity. Their Father-Mother God is always tending to His-Her little ones, hovering over them, nourishing them, and nurturing them.

Mary Baker Eddy described children as “the spiritual thoughts and representatives of Life, Truth, and Love.” This characterizes children as the conceptions of God, pure and spiritual, made in His image and likeness. However, she went on to alert the reader to the inversion of what children are, as conceived of by mortal perceptions, when she wrote, “Sensual and mortal beliefs; counterfeits of creation, whose better originals are God’s thoughts, not in embryo, but in maturity;…” (Science and Health, pp. 582–583).

Prayerfully, we can address this topic by affirming that children have a direct relation to their Father-Mother God, are responsive to the wisdom of their Maker, and obedient to the spiritual inclinations they so naturally have. In a question-and-answer section of Mrs. Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, she responded to an inquiry about raising children, in part: “If you make clear to the child’s thought the right motives for action, and cause him to love them, they will lead him aright:…” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 51).

In our prayers for children, and for the parents, guardians, teachers, Sunday School teachers, and counselors, all working with children, we can confidently place them daily and conscientiously in the hands of the Father-Mother who loves them best and guides them.

Is heavenly goodness attainable only in fantasy worlds? Or is it reached only through death? The answer in both cases is no, as Christ Jesus proved. We can prove it too. We can experience God’s goodness here and now.]]> from The Christian Science Monitor

Filmmaker James Cameron’s recent blockbuster hit Avatar, which is now the highest grossing film of all time, even surpassing Cameron’s Titanic, has people talking. It’s hit a nerve, on both a technical and emotional level.

The film features a virtual utopian planet, Pandora, inhabited by seven-foot-tall peaceful blue natives called Na’vi. But some moviegoers are finding it difficult to leave this imagined utopia. Over 1,000 people, posting on the fan site “Avatar Forums,” have apparently reported experiencing “post-Avatar” depression. Many complain that they can’t stop thinking about Pandora and dreaming of what it might be like to live in a similar beautiful space. Some say this has even made them feel suicidal. In contrast, Earth, the real blue planet, looks to them like little more than a drab counterpart, scarred by dwindling and abused resources and wasteful humans.

Aside from the movie’s obvious viewer appeal, these negative side-effects raise an interesting question. Is it possible to find utopia on earth? Or, rephrased in spiritual terms, can one actually experience heaven on earth?

That’s a question clearly answered in the life and teachings of the master Christian. For instance, Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to him under the cover of night, that to see the kingdom of God you have to be “born again.” When Nicodemus questioned this, Jesus eventually replied, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (see John 3:1–13). This seems to suggest that to understand and experience heaven—life from a God’s-eye view—one has to completely abandon a human perspective and see things from a spiritualized vantage point. To be “born again” is, in effect, to live life without mortal beginnings and endings, but from the starting point of infinite Spirit.

Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is here, now. And he proved it again and again, by setting people free of ailments and disabilities of almost every kind. Imagine what the world must have looked like the morning after the man’s healing at the pool of Bethesda (see John 5:2–9) or the woman’s healing of the issue of blood (see Matt. 9:20–22). Their days were no longer dictated by the inability to walk and live normal lives, but by restoration and wholeness. You could say they were living in heaven.

Mary Baker Eddy, the religious pioneer who discovered the Science behind Jesus’ healings and explained it in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, defined heaven in a unique way: “Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul” (Science and Health, p. 587). Just consider for a moment the word bliss, meaning “extreme and perfect happiness.” Bliss—right here on earth—is not something gained by death, lost or found according to external factors. Elsewhere in her writings, Mrs. Eddy explained that the kingdom of heaven is “a mental state.” And she continued, “Jesus said it is within you, and taught us to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come;’ but he did not teach us to pray for death whereby to gain heaven. We do not look into darkness for light” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 174).

Films often provide such realistic depictions that it’s easy to be swept up in a false view of reality. But when the credits roll, how important it is not to let our emotions roll with them. The idea that suicide can provide joy by erasing problems is a false lure. Equally misleading is the preoccupation with thinking perfection and satisfaction can be found only in a fantasy world. Both mental states deprive one of present joy, which belongs to each one of us by divine right. Even if an extreme measure like suicide has never occurred to you, how important it is to exclude from consciousness any persistent thought suggesting God and His harmony are absent from our lives.

In answer to the question of finding heaven on earth, perhaps each of us can take part in cultivating the thoughts that lead us closer to having that “mind, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5), so that we can be better healers and forces for good. The following statement can guide this desire: “Let us have a clearing up of abstractions …. Let us open our affections to the Principle that moves all in harmony,—from the falling of a sparrow to the rolling of a world. Above Arcturus and his sons, broader than the solar system and higher than the atmosphere of our planet, is the Science of mental healing” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 174).

The space we occupy is so much grander than the physical planet we call Earth. In fact, our orbit revolves around God, who will always be at the very center of our lives. We can’t ever extricate ourselves from that divine circle. When we see this as the only reference point in our lives, we move away from looking elsewhere for joy. Instead, we bring the light of healing—true heaven—into our own and others’ lives.

Adapted from an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel.

Iraq is becoming more stable, but young people’s employment prospects don’t always look good. Recognizing the power of God as Love can spur progress.]]> Gloria Onyuru | from The Christian Science Monitor

As the situation on the ground in Iraq is becoming more stable and the dust is beginning to settle, a new generation of youth is preparing to take advantage of the opportunities that relative peace will afford them.

Many of the young men and women who are now looking to start out in life may not have an education, having grown up in wartime, and it may be difficult for them to find employment. Even if they are educated, many may end up with dead-end jobs because there’s not much manufacturing or industry going on in Iraq, and especially not now. It just doesn’t seem right that along with the hard-earned peace in their country the young people of Iraq should find themselves in a hopeless, jobless situation. And it isn’t right. Investors and industrialists may also have lost hope in working with Iraq.

To help turn this situation toward expectation of good, we can pray. In thinking about Iraq’s future, we can promote a change in thought from despair (based in a material sense of life) to hope (based in Spirit). This is the spiritually bright perspective, available to all.

Peace without hope is not really peace. In fact, hopelessness trespasses on humanity’s inherent right to the fruits of peace. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Monitor, thought deeply about life and hope, and wrote this in her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “To calculate one’s life-prospects from a material basis, would infringe upon spiritual law and misguide human hope” (Science and Health, p. 319).

To help guide human hope away from the darkness of despair to the light of an expectancy of good, we can claim in our prayers the right of young Iraqis to relinquish the limitations inherent in a materially based life and to know life from a more spiritual basis. The Bible is a sure guide to helping us gain a spiritual sense of God’s care for all people, including those who have been severely affected by the war. Its healing messages can strengthen our prayers to remove their fears and reveal their God-given peace and hope. “Love … always hopes,” wrote the Apostle Paul (I Cor. 13:7, New International Version), who had reason to feel hopeless more than once in his life.

Love is the key to destroying fear and finding hope. Love always hopes—and the Bible explains just how powerful love is: “God is love” (I John 4:16). To find hope in God, divine Love itself, is to find permanent peace, the peace that can never be taken away; that doesn’t depend on people, politics, industry, or even a cessation of war; that is found inherently within us all; and that is a quality of Spirit, of God. Whoever trusts that God is the Giver of peace and hope can live fearlessly, peacefully, and hopefully right at this moment and at all times.

As we love all Iraqis in our prayers—and it is so natural to do this because God loves them as His precious children—we are helping not only that new generation of young people, but raising hope for the future of the country, the region, and the whole world.

Greece isn’t the only country with economic problems, but it’s one of those most in the news now. Our willingness to trust God to supply wise and responsible solutions can help resolve any problem, including the current situation in Greece.]]> Kari Mashos | from The Christian Science Monitor

Getting Greece’s financial house in order now has the attention of the European Union heads of state. “Austere measures” and “panic” are words on the lips of both media personnel and people on the street. Though it may appear that the need for fiscal responsibility is at odds with the well-being of individuals, families, businesses, and the country—along with its economic and political partners—there is a spiritual solution that not only can erase the separation but that actually demands a unifying, healing adjustment.

The fact is that nothing and no one is outside the order and care of God, divine Principle, including all nations and their systems of government. Divine Principle requires, but also provides, balance and harmony in all things. Understanding this will enable people to respond to the situation in productive ways.

Christ Jesus understood and proved that healing answers to every human problem come from God. We can follow his example of turning to our Father-Mother, God, for help and by understanding and living our oneness with the divine Mind that knows all things. Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).

Christian Science gives a deeper understanding of God as infinite Mind. This Mind has the power to influence human consciousness, and it requires people and nations to act in accord with both wisdom and love. Infinite Mind not only gives us the ideas that are just right to correct what’s wrong, but also includes the calming presence of Love. It inspires our prayers for Greece and strengthens honest resolve for freedom.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (Science and Health, p. 494). Love meets the human need by enabling us to drop fear and anger (or whatever is unlike Love) from our thinking and allowing us to respond with the understanding that no one is left behind or marginalized under divine Love’s care.

Effective prayer is a mental adjustment, a mental housekeeping, a clearing away of anxiety and fear. Blame, fear, and anger are not qualities of God, and they do not bring about healing change. But expressing our God-given nature in wisdom, honesty, responsibility, and selfless love enables us to hear the answers that will correct and heal. How this law of Love adjusts the human experience is unique to each individual, nation, and national need. Divine Love meets each need out of its own limitless and infinitely creative resources.

Everyone has the right to have a proper faith in a human government to do the right thing. This should not be a misguided hope, but should stem from a faith in the power that truly governs all peoples and governments—namely God. It is the purpose of infinite good to establish stability and progress. Our willingness to trust in divine Principle—infinite good—to supply alert, wise, responsible care is a correcting influence under all conditions and in every situation, including the current situation in Greece.

Adapted from “God brings stability and progress” in The Herald of Christian Science, Greek edition. To read the original article in Greek, see spirituality.com.

Are all those who don’t win a competition really losers? The answer is up to them. By adhering to the truth that they’re spiritual and the complete reflection of God and by claiming all God’s attributes as their own, they can bring victory to every contest.]]> Bea Roegge | from The Christian Science Monitor

After the competition is over, whether it be the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, or a spelling bee in the elementary school down the street, there is an opportunity for constructive evaluation.

This opportunity is lost if cries of unfairness or self-condemnation fill one’s thought. While there may have been some actual mistakes made by those controlling and judging the contests, these mistakes should not be allowed to detract from the lessons any competition offers. It’s a well-known axiom that we learn from our mistakes. What’s important for anyone to look at after a defeat is how he or she could have done better.

Many years ago when participating in a speech contest, I did poorly. I didn’t win the scholarship awarded to first-place winners that would enable me to attend college. I spent several days lamenting my loss and suffering from the disappointment this caused my family. This was during a time of a worldwide depression, and there was no extra money for college tuition. I was sure that my defeat was final and that college was out of the question.

To my amazement, a few days later an official of the college that I wished to attend came to our door. This in itself was unusual because we lived in the country, far removed from neighbors. People didn’t just drop in. This man knew of the contest I’d lost, but apparently he didn’t consider me the miserable failure that I did. He offered me a scholarship for the first semester and a promise that if I maintained a B average or above, the scholarship would be renewed each semester. This scholarship offered the opportunity to major in a field of my choosing while the “lost” one was good only in a field in which I was not particularly interested or suited for.

From this experience I learned that losing a competition doesn’t necessarily cut off all reward from having participated. It’s obvious that in any competition the majority of participants will not be the winners. Are those who do not win really losers? The answer is up to the individual. By adhering to the truth that he or she is spiritual and the complete reflection of God, and by claiming all God’s attributes as their own, individuals can bring victory to every contest.

It’s not harmful to learn of our own shortcomings. Actually, it’s beneficial to see where we fall short. It’s how we use this information that makes all the difference. If we sink into an attitude of disappointment, or worse, self-condemnation, we head downhill into failure and defeat. Learning from our mistakes, however, turns us around the other way. We may find the learning difficult, but it will achieve victories. We may not win actual competitions, but we will gain the victory over weaknesses and inferior performances.

The worst thing we can do is to let a competitive experience keep us from trying again. What we learn from defeats, as well as our victories, determines our actual progress in many areas of our lives.

On a larger scale, competition in business is to be desired. The founder of the Monitor, Mary Baker Eddy, once wrote that “insufficient freedom of honest competition” was a danger (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 266).

While it’s important to admit the good in competition, it’s also important to recognize that merely entertaining a competitive spirit may not be advantageous. It’s good to see others win, to rejoice in their victories, and to learn from them. Almost every competitive experience offers more than a victory to a person or persons. All who are involved can take away lessons that turn defeats into victories of learning. After the competition is over, whether competitor or onlooker, one can always consider himself or herself a victor because of the helpful lessons learned. This makes victory everlasting and defeat but of the moment.

In our prayers for everyone affected by the Chilean earthquake, we can recognize the ability of Christ to guide them to solutions and to give them strength, flexibility, wisdom, and love. Each time any one of us gains a better understanding of this spiritual fact, we help reveal the needed human solutions.]]> Rosalie E. Dunbar | from The Christian Science Monitor

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday has killed hundreds and left at least 2 million homeless. While authorities believe the death toll may rise in the days to come, Chile’s preparedness and practical approach are encouraging.

Nevertheless, many Chileans are presently without housing, jobs, and food as a result of the quake. Desperate scenes of people breaking into stores—some out of necessity and others out of greed—clearly illustrate the fear and instability people are feeling. And the concerns are exacerbated by the continuing severe aftershocks.

Our prayers can do much to support efforts of emergency personnel to assist and save. Prayer can strengthen those who are overwhelmed and bring a sense of divine Love’s tender presence, so that their fears are eased. One resource for such prayer is the book of Psalms. It offers wonderful insights into the value of relying on God. This passage speaks of stability, even in the midst of trouble: “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee [God], when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Ps. 61:2).

To me, that rock is Christ, the healing power that Jesus manifested during his earthly ministry, and which showed God’s love for all His creation, including men, women, and children. Even now, the reality of God’s love and the divine law that enforces it can become clearer to us and help us provide stability, despite the physical and mental aftershocks people may be feeling. That spiritual law rests on divine Truth and Love. It transcends material conditions. It is present in Chile right now, to provide intelligent direction, peace, and greater confidence in good. It will guide the government and all who are involved in restoring order and peace.

In our prayers for those rendered homeless and jobless, we can recognize the ability of Christ to guide them to solutions and to give them strength, flexibility, wisdom, and love. As the one who immeasurably showed forth the power of Christ to heal and restore, Jesus said specifically, “In my Father’s house are many mansions …. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). That place isn’t determined by matter or material elements. Jesus revealed that the kingdom of heaven is within each one of us. Our home is in God, in infinite Truth and Love, and this is true for the Chilean people also. Each time you or I gain a better understanding of this spiritual fact, we help reveal the needed human solutions.

Another issue we can address in our prayers is how people deal with the memories of what they’ve seen or lost during this time of trouble. Sometimes these concerns seem difficult to put aside. Here, too, the healing power of God’s Christ is present not just to comfort but also to cleanse one’s thought and life of anything suggestive of evil.

In her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, noted that spirituality can triumph over evil in every aspect of life. She wrote, “To the physical senses, the strict demands of Christian Science seem peremptory; but mortals are hastening to learn that Life is God, good, and that evil has in reality neither place nor power in the human or the divine economy” (Science and Health, p. 327).

The truth of this statement not only helps remove residues of fear and bad memories from those affected by them. It will also point the way to restoring the Chilean economy. Evil has no right or presence either as a haunting memory or as a devastated economy. Jesus proved that divine Love is fully able to heal all these conditions, and our prayers, declaring the presence of Christ “on the ground,” will reveal the same kinds of practical solutions that Jesus produced during his ministry on earth.

Tragedies such as this earthquake cannot hold back the forward momentum of the nation and the desire for good on behalf of its people. Right now, prayer for Chile’s people can support this spiritual fact and bring an even higher sense of peace and stability to this beautiful country.

Rosalie E. Dunbar is news editor for the Christian Science magazines.