“The world is a mess,” a friend complains to me. She is distraught over political wrangling, social upheaval, and conflict around the globe she reads about in the news every day. “The world is headed in the wrong direction,” she worries.
Reports of bad things happening on the world scene are easy to find, I agree. Much of the news media is awash with them. But, as I remind my friend, there is a higher power at work in this world than the calamity of the moment. Despite every political, economic, or social storm, hidden from the material senses is the God of love, who is all-encompassing Spirit. Divine Spirit maintains the spiritual world, the real creation, where heavenly harmony reigns. This world is not in any way material or fraught with mortal shortcomings, but peaceful and orderly, always present to understand and demonstrate.
Jesus Christ was the master Christian, consistently demonstrating the law of God’s order and peace in the face of seeming mental and physical turbulence. One time he was sailing on a boat at sea with his disciples. A violent storm erupted and threatened their survival. The disciples panicked and woke Jesus, who was sleeping peacefully in the back of the boat. Jesus saw the storm, but rather than panic, he brought his understanding of God’s omnipotence to bear on the situation. He commanded the sea, “Peace, be still,” and the storm stopped (see Mark 4:36-39).
Jesus exercised this same divine power, God’s all-authoritative law, in other calamities he faced. His understanding of the reality of infinite good, and the spirituality of each of us as God’s creation, empowered him to calm fear, restore sanity to individuals, feed hungry crowds, and heal diseased bodies. He did not bow to the claim that evil could take over his thinking, or that it truly existed. Where other people saw evil in control, he saw God’s total control.
Jesus knew that God is the only power in the universe, the divine power that causes only good things to happen. The devil is a liar, he taught. “There is no truth in him” (John 8:44). Jesus knew that in the omnipotence of God, evil has no place to occupy, no power to claim, but has to yield to the truth of God’s allness.
We can learn from Jesus’ example and understand God’s supremacy in the face of troubling events. Our prayers for peace and order make a positive difference for ourselves and beyond ourselves.
Once, I was managing a group of farm workers who started fighting over who would get to pick fruit in certain sections of our family orchard. Emotions were running high. Tempers were flaring. Walking into the middle of these angry men, I chose to stay calm. I prayed and listened to God for what to say or do that would help.
In response to that prayer, the words “Love them” came to me clearly. In obedience, I looked each of them in the eye and felt the love of God for them. I could see that each one of them was a worthy child of God. Tension in the atmosphere immediately drained. After a lengthy quiet period, an idea came to mind about how they could go about their work harmoniously. I shared it. Everyone agreed and was soon happily working in the orchard again.
Just as this love that looked out from a spiritual perspective calmed this group of workers and brought them peace, a spiritually grounded love for our fellow men and women around the world can help them find peace. Our experience is defined by thought, so as a person living on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean prayerfully understands divine Love’s omnipotence and ever-presence, denying the power of evil, this can bring the peace and safety of God to tangible expression for a soldier hidden in a ditch in Ukraine. And our prayers to see that intelligence and compassion are qualities of God we all, including those in leadership in the centers of political power, reflect, can improve public officials’ decision-making.
We are not helpless when reading about troubling events on the world scene. We can listen for healing ideas that enable us to understand that God creates and maintains only peaceful conditions, as Jesus proved.
Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, writes, “At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 571). The truth that good has all power over evil is a spiritual rule we can affirm and become conscious of when reading the news. Rather than being overwhelmed by fear and distress over what we hear, then, we can refute these emotions as a lie about us and contribute to world order with prayers for peace. We can help the world move in the right direction. We can be healers.
