God's universal good—equally available to all

Back in the early ‘70s, a longstanding battle between Navajos and Hopis in the American West flared up over common reservation boundaries.

Not unlike the disagreement between Israelis and Palestinians, both tribes demanded property rights for the disputed territory. Tempers raged, and the federal government had to step in and settle the issue, in part by forcing Navajos off land that the Hopis claimed belonged to them.

As winter approached, more than 100 displaced Navajo families were shuttled to a makeshift camp in the tribal capital at Window Rock, Arizona.

A year earlier, I’d lived on the Navajo reservation where I was running a summer education and recreation program primarily for Navajo children in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navajo tribe. Native American friends often told stories of open fighting along the border between the two reservations. I’d also seen many families living below subsistence level. While running water and electricity may be more common on reservations than in some developing countries, the populations share conditions of poverty, disenfranchisement, and limited opportunity.

Because tribal life appears tenuous, I was well aware of how the government's decision affected the displaced families.

A few days before Thanksgiving, the legal counsel for the tribe, whom I knew from my time on the reservation, called me. He was concerned that these families had nowhere to go and nothing to protect them from the approaching cold. Further, the children in the camp were unlikely to receive Christmas presents. He wondered if I could help.

I promptly launched into a process of gathering food, clothing, blankets, and gifts. Single handedly, I called a number of friends I thought might be able to help, plus put notices on bulletin boards at grocery stores and the school I was attending. I tried to involve others who had some contact with members of the tribe, and informed my church of the needs. Despite the fact that I’d poured my heart and soul into helping, after a few weeks, I’d only been able to collect a meager number of items. Since the need was urgent and my resources limited, the task soon grew daunting. How could I ever collect enough for these families to survive the winter—let alone have a meaningful Christmas? I felt weighed down and overwhelmed by the responsibility I felt had been placed on my shoulders.

Then I realized that while I had a role to play, I wasn’t the source of the solution. I needed to draw from the infinite source of everyone's provision—divine Love—rather than from my own human capacities. I set aside all organizing and began to pray in earnest.

The apostle Peter provides a good foundation for prayer regarding world conditions when he observes: “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” Because God doesn’t play favorites, everyone has access to boundless good, infinite opportunity, and infinite success.

Sometimes, when we’re faced with contradictory perspectives, this seems impossible. But the realization that every individual has a purpose and place dissipates the old myth of “haves” and “have nots.” It leaves no one outside God’s boundless love. It reveals every idea or creation of God as essential to Him, with a specific destiny to fulfill.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “God, without the image and likeness of Himself, would be a nonentity, or Mind unexpressed. He would be without a witness or proof of His own nature.”

Regardless of race, religion, gender, age, or socio-economic standing, we're all equally important to His infinite expression. Every voice is essential to the whole chorus of ideas. Were it otherwise, God’s boundless nature wouldn’t be expressed completely.

This spiritual understanding reveals the ever-active Christ that throws off material limitations, and allows one’s innate value to surface. It highlights the dignity of each individual and brings into focus one’s eternal, unbreakable link to God. To understand one’s spiritual identity as unlimited by past mistakes or current uncertainties provides a solid platform for building a life replete with new opportunity.

Numerous times, I’ve seen one person’s willingness to lift thought to the Christ ideal transform his or her experience. If this is possible on an individual basis, just think of what it can do globally—simply by elevating thought to the Christ-consciousness that includes all humanity.

Effective prayer resists asking God to come down to fix problems of poverty, embattlement, and homelessness, because it rests on an understanding of what God actually is and does. God doesn’t sit on a cloud and bestow good on some but withhold it from others. God is infinite, impartial Love. God is divine Principle, and operates more like the sun, shining on all equally.

Prayer that begins on this basis recognizes God’s eternal provision for everyone and sees any apparent lack of good as a false view of existence. This scientific prayer replaces the misconception with an accurate image that glorifies God’s nature as a benevolent Father-Mother.

In her book No and Yes, Mary Baker Eddy explained, “God pities our woes with the love of a Father for His child, — not by becoming human, and knowing sin, or naught, but by removing our knowledge of what is not. He could not destroy our woes totally if He possessed any knowledge of them. His sympathy is divine, not human. It is Truth's knowledge of its own infinitude which forbids the genuine existence of even a claim to error” (No 30:13-20).

As I prayed about the Navajos, I addressed poverty and homelessness, as well as focusing on specific concerns such as displacement, limited opportunity, loss of usefulness, and the belief that God provides for some and not for others. These claims deny God’s love for all of us as His spiritual ideas—which means we can dismiss them as false.

But this doesn’t mean we fail to address them. The book of Isaiah tells of God’s promise: “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” When, through our prayers, we establish the spiritual fact of God’s care for and unity with His children, we realize that God, the source of infinite good, provides abundantly for everyone, despite material conditions that may seem overwhelming.

As my conviction of Love’s eternal provision increased, the name of a national youth group came to mind. I called them and explained the situation and what was needed. Within a few days, they had a truck en route to the reservation with the necessary provisions.

This experience taught me that muscle power isn’t sufficient to meet the world’s needs. The greatest gift any of us can offer is scientifically based prayer that begins with a benevolent Father who ably provides for all of His children.

Then, if there are practical steps to take, we’ll be quiet enough to hear what they are and to know how to act on them.

Explore more healing ideas in the special feature Spiritual solutions to end poverty: what Christian Science has to offer.

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