Poverty and the culture of blame

There is an international effort to make poverty history. I believe we'll be much nearer to that goal when we eradicate the paralysing effects of a mental condition that impoverishes our world: blame.

In a culture of blame, people are inclined to shut their eyes to solutions. There's a tendency to believe that societal problems are caused by external factors created by someone else, and that individuals have no power to make a change.

I have realized that whenever I think of people as victims of something beyond their control, or when I condone alienation, disaffection, and cynicism, I'm setting up resistance to the idea that there are solutions to the problems of poverty.

When I was a teacher in the large multicultural city of Birmingham, England, the families of children in my classes had been moved out of poor and inadequate housing into large apartment blocks.

But they were not happy with the change. Shopping routines and other regular activities were drastically altered. People were separated from friends they had lived next to for years. The whole fabric of their community was torn asunder, and it was hard for them to feel a sense of neighborhood in the new environment.

This affected my work in the classroom, because the children in these families began to behave badly in class and didn’t do as well academically. But it took me a while to realize I was using the change in their environment as an excuse for poor classroom performance. I was thinking, “What can you expect? It's inevitable they'll do poorly in school when their lives are in such a state of upheaval.”

I had accepted that there was nothing I could do to make a difference. Yet I really cared about the children and wanted to help them.

I regularly study the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and I looked to these books for inspiration. One forceful statement from Mrs. Eddy stood out: “Christian Science explains all cause and effect as mental, not physical.” In that case, I realized, I needed to turn my thinking around. But how?

And then something happened that helped me focus on what needed to be done.

An irate father burst into the classroom where I was teaching. He felt I was to blame for his son's unruly behavior at home. He actually raised his fists to intimidate me.

I kept very calm, and the father finally stormed out of the classroom.

As I prayed about the situation, recognizing that divine Love was caring for him, I realized that instead of blaming him for being unreasonable and aggressive, I needed to change my concept of him. And afterward, I felt compassion for him. That was a sign that my thought was changing direction.

I turned to the healing attitude taught by Christ Jesus: to “love thy neighbour as thyself.” I didn't need an apology from the man—I needed forgiveness in my own heart. I realized with a great feeling of joy that I could forgive myself for ever having mentally accepted the ugliness of this situation. The spiritual reality that dawned on my consciousness was the healing factor. I was confident that where God’s goodness is, and it is everywhere, there is no possibility of discord of any kind.

As a result of this prayer, the teacher-parent relationship changed to one of cooperation. There was a significant improvement in the man’s attitude, and I never had trouble with him again.

And in the classroom, disinterest and lethargy were replaced with a far greater degree of commitment and constructive activity.

It's sometimes difficult to analyze a progression such as this, because there was no concrete change in the housing situation for these children. However, through prayer as I’ve been describing it, peaceful attitudes replaced abrasive mental reactions. I saw this to be the result of my willingness to open thought wide to divine Love’s presence. The children and I felt calm, and there was an improvement in concentration levels and happiness in the classroom.

I was learning not to feel challenged by negativity, but instead to get dominion over it. I did this by recognizing divine goodness, rather than blame, as the only possible influence in my day-to-day life.

Whether the challenge is in a school or in the world, it is all too easy to say to oneself, “This is just the way it is. The solutions are beyond my control. There's nothing I can do.” But as the classroom experience taught me, prayer is something everyone can do, and it does make a difference.

So how does one pray about a large problem like poverty? There is no formula—my prayers are different every time. One thing is certain, however: prayer reaches out to God, and to a higher sense of good.

I like to work with three words that help me keep my prayers focused: compassion, consent, and conviction.

Compassion: I search my heart to make sure I feel deep compassion for those I pray for. Unless that love is in place, I know my prayer will be of little help. I believe divine Love is the source of the compassion I feel, and that is why such love has power.

Human compassion is important, but it's not enough to heal the world of poverty. Things will change with the realization that divine Love is universally in place. It's a great mental adventure to accept and embrace this Love, and it starts by refusing to take part in the blame game.

Consent: I affirm that I'm not going to give my consent to anything that attempts to pull me down from the love that I feel. This is not always easy, especially in cases of natural disaster, but it's necessary. For instance, not long ago I saw horrific pictures of starving people who had been waiting for a relief team to bring them help. At first I started to blame the relief team, but then I realized that those thoughts of blame wouldn’t be helpful to anyone.

To give consent would be to become part of the tragedy, to excuse evil. Instead, I remember that divine Love has all power. I stand outside the problem and stay mentally strong, maintaining compassion and confidence in the veracity of good.

Conviction: My conviction is that power lies with God, divine Love, and I will not let any cloud of doubt take that confidence away. I will not blame myself for not doing more than I feel able to do. My job is to understand more of divine Love’s power, whose voice can be heard by all in distress.

I trust this statement from Science and Health: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” In the classroom, and countless times since, I have experienced this very thing.

Divine Love is so much more than human generosity and forgiveness, vitally important as those are. It is the power that obliterates the mistaken belief that things like blame can gain the upper hand. What I have discovered is that when goodness, instead of blame, is foremost in our thought, receptivity to the divine influence is inevitable. The result of such openness to good is always beautiful and harmonious for everyone.

Society would be greatly enriched were “blame” unknown. We would be closer to demonstrating the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Mrs. Eddy expressed the impact of this spiritual understanding better than I can. She wrote: “Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, — the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen.”

Under the reign of Spirit, blame will be unknown because our real and eternal life as God’s children, full of love, will forever free all of us from blame.

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