“Let There Be Peace On Earth, and let it begin with me.” This opening line of a popular song aptly describes the deeply personal approach each of the following six writers is taking in thinking about world peace. And while the places they call home span five continents, they have one theme in common—their faith in the supremacy of God’s love in human affairs.

Although diverse in their cultures and geographical locations, these spiritual thinkers agree that prayer to the universal divine Mind leads to practical, sustainable solutions to the most intransigent situations. The prayer they’re talking about is not some hothouse daydream of Utopia. Rather, it’s the prayer that comes from a faith in the healing, provable power of divine Love.

These writers are finding that through living God’s love day to day—even in small and modest ways—personal, family, community, and, ultimately, world peace is becoming more evident. Without discounting the urgent needs of those caught up in war, violent circumstances, or the oppression of injustice, they each say in their own way that world peace is attainable—”… and it always begins with me.”

Consent to peace

Beverly Goldsmith
Brisbane, Australia

It was a warm summer’s day. I was on my hands and knees in the garden, weeding. For a moment I paused to admire the sweeping views we had of a beautiful, tranquil valley. I loved our hillside home. Our street was peaceful. The neighbors were amicable. Everything around me seemed perfect.

Suddenly, violent yelling, followed by loud bangs, crying, and screams of pain, filled the air. I leapt to my feet. The disturbance was coming from the house next door. As I listened, I realized in disbelief that our young, newly married neighbor was physically attacking his wife. With a feeling of urgency I started to pray along these lines: “Dear Father, these are Your children. Your love is in their hearts. This means that they are calm and peace-loving. They are not violent people. Your harmony is present. You are keeping them from doing evil.”

The screams and fighting continued, so I kept praying. Then the thought came strongly that I needed to take action right away to stop the violence. I ran indoors to the telephone, thinking I would call the police. Instead, I found myself opening the telephone directory and ringing the young man’s parents. Although they’d never met me, they pleaded with me to go next door immediately. It would take them at least 30 minutes to drive over. Although I agreed, I was scared. What would I find? What would I say and do?

Then I recalled these words from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:“Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 454). With all my heart, I accepted this statement. I asked God to help me be fearless. I reminded myself that this couple loved each other, and that God loved them. I knew that He could restore peace between them.

As I knocked on their front door, I could hear them screaming at each other. I prayed for courage, then knocked again. After some time, the husband opened the door. I told him how concerned I’d been for their well-being, that I’d called his parents, and that they were on their way over. We stared at each other. Then he started to cry. I went inside. There was upturned furniture everywhere and a huge hole in the living-room wall. He had a broken hand. His wife, who stood silently weeping, had a black eye and other bruises.

My heart went out to them. I put my arms around her. Then I embraced the husband. I offered comforting words, and I also prayed that God’s tender love would heal their difficulties and bring them closer together. Soon his parents arrived. His mother was shaken. With tears in her eyes, she held my hands and thanked me.

Next day, the husband visited me and apologized for his violent outburst. He said he’d been deeply moved that I’d cared so much about them. My arrival had prevented him from doing something much worse. Ashamed of his actions, he promised that he wouldn’t let anything like that happen again. And so far as I know, he never did as long as he lived next door to us.

I think of this incident often when I hear news reports about fighting and war. It reminds me to pray for peace—to get involved and not ignore conflict situations. After all, peace comes down to you and me. Nothing is going to change without the actions that our prayers impel us to take.

Here are some ways I pray for world peace:

• Affirm that God made everyone to want a stable, peaceful life; that it’s normal and natural for all people as God’s children to be peaceable—to live together in harmony.

• Remember that peace is a state of mind, not just an absence of hostilities. Right now neighbors can be good-natured, merciful, tenderhearted, kind. They can refuse to retaliate or react to provocation, anger, hate.

• Consent to peace—wholeheartedly believe that it can happen.

• Know that prayer is effective—that it reaches around the world, is powerful, and heals.

God gives us the strength and freedom to bring healing to our lives and thus our world. Even in the midst of fighting, our prayers can help neighbors make peace.

The peace-bearing touch of unconditional love

Marta Greenwood
Weybridge, England

I had been in bed all day with a splitting headache, and I ached all over. My husband was working away from home during the weekdays. There was no extended family around me and nobody I could ask for help. Lonely and sick, I felt a million miles away from God. Did He love me? I asked, “What is love and where do I find it?” Finally, I asked God to help me just feel the closeness of His love.

Although I could hardly bear to get out of bed and leave home that afternoon, I had to go pick up our daughters from school. Halfway there I came across a roadblock—my route to the school was closed. The traffic was being diverted, causing a long queue of cars, and I couldn’t figure out how to get to the children’s school. Honestly, I didn’t care about what the road construction workers were trying to do; all I wanted was to pick up my children and get back home to bed. So in my desperation I just drove right across the closed area.

There were machines, diggers, trucks, and contractors all over the closed-off road. A man came toward me and asked what I was doing. With tears pouring down my face, I told him where I needed to go and asked him to please help me. I told him I didn’t feel well, but I had to pick up my children from school.

At that moment, I looked into his eyes and saw that they were filled with love—love from God. He told me to wait where I was. Then he moved the tractors, trucks, and digger all out of the way, leaving a path for me to get through. I couldn’t thank him enough. The tears I drove away with were now tears of relief and gratitude.

It wasn’t until I was walking to the school gates that I realized I didn’t have a single pain in my body. All I could feel was God’s peace and love all around me. I knew that feeling came from God.

I have never forgotten that love I was given. It brought a healing peace to my turbulent state of mind, and to my aching body. So many times in my life people have given me love without any question or condition. Their generous love has often enabled me to escape from dark places of confusion and sadness, as it did when that kind man at the closed road treated me with such instant kindness.

Love is there for us to give every day. It’s free from God. It’s the impulse that has caused all the progress the world has ever made. Love that brings peace in the world is a journey, not an end. It embraces all people, all animals, all plants, all things. Unconditional love cannot separate us from one another by gender, race, status, or religion.

Love has caused other people’s helping hands to bring me to a place in my life where it is now my turn to help. I want to do what that man at the closed road did for me—reach out and heal someone without any questions asked or strings attached.

When my love is deep enough and unconditional enough, I believe I will see a world full of people who live in peace with one another. The strengthening of my love will begin in my heart with the desire to be a good Samaritan to others on their journey.

Unconditional love holds the power to heal and open new roads for peace. Love will be my instrument of peace for the coming year. I pledge to wage peace by using the most powerful weapon of all—divinely derived love, pure, clear, and unconditional, which comes from God, who is Love itself.

Assistance in brotherhood

Klaus-Hendrik Herr
Berlin, Germany

My car seemed to float peacefully and (I felt) speedily along the four-lane autobahn. Such a restful trip, I thought, as I moved out to pass yet another car with ease. So restful, in fact, that I was totally unaware of the sleek black car that approached me from behind at very high speed, as if out of nowhere, and was now all but attached to my car’s bumper.

The car’s driver seemed unhappy that I even existed, at least in that lane at that moment. He sounded his horn in perfect coordination with his headlight flasher. Well, I wasn’t amused, and shifted into a mode of driving that was decidedly unpeaceful.

I looked for a way to change lanes to the right, but I certainly was not ready to change my thoughts about the other driver—at least for a few moments. Then suddenly I realized that this was a perfect time to be a peacemaker. I call myself a Christian Scientist, I thought. Every day I pray to spiritualize my thoughts and Christianize my daily life. Mary Baker Eddy urged just that, if we don’t want to live the “ghastly farce of material existence” (Science and Health, p. 272).

That idea saved me. It was the touch of Christ, blessing everyone concerned. It immediately changed how I thought about the other driver, and myself. For the next few moments I saw, through the window of prayer, only the goodness and perfection of the man God created in His image.

When I start prayer with acknowledging the infinite goodness of God, and men and women as His spiritual creation, it’s hard to hold to any concept of humanity divided into factions that conflict with each other.

I was actually joyful as I awoke to the fact that I was a neighbor to the other driver. I remembered Jesus’ parable of “the good Samaritan,” who did not look at others in a tribal way, but made himself a genuine neighbor to someone in need. The Samaritan came next to a man who had been attacked—and the root meaning of the German word Frieden, or peace, is “to be next to one another.”

I also realized that it made no sense to pray for one’s own safety in God’s care and see even one other person as separated from the governing Principle, Love. Safety is found by including all beings in the one spiritual and good creation.

I believe the core task for a peacemaker is “assistance in brotherhood.” Mary Baker Eddy used that term in Science and Health, where she addressed the reader as a seer—someone who “seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it” (p. 518). The full sentence is, “The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good.”

Small moments can teach big lessons. The situation on the autobahn convinced me that we need to spiritually network (to use the new verb). As we start, within ourselves, to overcome the pull toward self-centeredness, which only leads into personal and group warfare, we are being prepared for opportunities to heal factionalism in all its forms. In his notebook of aphorisms,

Franz Kafka wrote: “Anyone who renounces the world must love all men, for he renounces their world, too. He thus begins to have some inkling of the true nature of man, which cannot but be loved, always assuming that one is its peer” (a weblogger’s translation from the original German: www.eigengrau.com/kafka/reflections.html).

The fact that progress in peacemaking starts within individual hearts might be frustrating (in the face of global-scale problems), but it should be an empowering truth. It opens channels for being an influence for good.

Here’s my peacemaker’s agenda for the new year:

• Pray daily for opportunities to be a close neighbor.

• Actively strive to provide mental “room” for opportunities to make myself a neighbor to others.

• Record the blessings that occur by coming close to others.

• Be a true seer, consistently looking at things from a spiritual perspective.

Regarding that fourth point, two Bible verses contrast the options. In Jeremiah it says, “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (8:15). Isaiah points to a higher kind of looking: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (45:22).

That day on the autobahn—in the wake of a black car that quickly disappeared over the horizon—I found new resolve to actually be the man made in God’s image. And to see other men and women in the same way. I’m finding unity and closeness to my neighbors in the fact of our shared parentage.

For greater peace

Ruth Elizabeth Jenks
Chicago, Illinois

How can I really pray for a whole world? Why would I pray? Is it presumptuous to think that I can make a difference? What is my motive for praying? Am I praying to ease my own conscience?

These are questions that have taunted me many times over the years. But I have friends in various parts of the world, friends of different religions, races, and cultures, some facing political or economic challenges, some deprived of basic needs. I am not in a position to help them in what would appear to be ways most practical or tangible—but I want to help. I feel an urgency to help. And so I pray! And from my own experience through the decades, I know that in Bible wisdom, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

These verses from Isaiah tell what that “much” is all about: “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (32:17, 18).

The desire to see that promise fulfilled is my motive for prayer in this new year. But I realize it requires more of me than just a desire and a willingness to help the world. I can’t do it without understanding and expressing “righteousness” in all that I think, say, or do.

I began studying the word righteousness to see what was needed to express it. Let me say right here, after researching 19 pages in small print from The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, filled with detailed definitions of the word throughout Scripture, I can assure you I have a long way to go to be a “righteous man (or woman!).” But at least I take comfort that I feel I’m fervent and can continue to try. My study indicated that being righteous refers to one who preserves the peace and wholeness of the community. It was of great interest to me that seldom is being righteous associated with conformity to ritualism. A few of the many attributes of righteousness that meant the most to me were purity, compassion, justice, equity, truth, faithfulness, blamelessness, grace.

All of this began to provide answers to subtle self-doubts as to the power of a single person’s prayer for a whole world. It became clear it had to begin with prayer for myself.

The two great commandments given by Jesus—love God, and love your neighbor as yourself—made me ask, How can I love my neighbor as myself until I am living that love?

In the Boston Globe of November 29, 1900, Mary Baker Eddy wrote concerning this second commandment: “It signifies that love, unselfed, knocks more loudly than ever before at the heart of humanity and that it finds admittance; that revelation, spiritual voice and vision, are less subordinate to material sight and sound and more apparent to reason; that evil flourishes less, invests less in trusts, loses capital, and is bought at par value; that the Christ-spirit will cleanse the earth of human gore; that civilization, peace between nations, and the brotherhood of man should be established, and justice plead not vainly in behalf of the sacred rights of individuals, peoples, and nations” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 265).

As I face this new year, my questions have been answered. I can pray for the world and trust the effectiveness of my prayers in proportion as I recognize that righteousness isn’t something I have to get. I have it now. It is God’s gift to each of us. My prayers, your prayers, will not only bless us, but will be a power for bringing greater peace individually and collectively to the whole human family.

Accountability to God

Bob Tucker
Johannesburg, South Africa

There are so many good things that have happened in South Africa over the last ten years. They include the remarkably peaceful and voluntary transition to democracy; Nelson Mandela’s leadership and demonstration of compassion and forgiveness; the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the democratically elected government’s sound management of the economy, to the extent that on almost every conventional measurement of economic performance, South Africans are significantly better off than they were ten years ago; and the establishment of NEPAD—the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

This past year I have been greatly privileged to participate in the development of a financial sector charter for South Africa. I am confident that it will become an international model of cooperation between government, disadvantaged communities, and banks in the establishment of a code of practice for private sector contribution to sustainable development. The capacity of so-called capitalists, public servants, and the historically severely disadvantaged to sit down and talk to each other about really difficult things, and find solutions that they could all buy into, was exceptional.

But I don’t think that we will have lasting peace on the continent or in South Africa until there is widespread understanding of every individual’s accountability to a higher order than his or her own immediate self-gratification.

Over the last quarter century, there has been a surge toward freedom throughout the continent. But it has become increasingly apparent that freedom without accountability leads to anarchy. In fact, historically the people or offices to whom we thought we were accountable have let us down badly—whether they were the colonial powers, racist or autocratic regimes, or the owners of capital.

So the question that challenges us as we taste freedom is, To whom or what is each one of us accountable? There is no doubt in my mind that it must be to our Creator. And it is clear from the first book of the Bible that “God created man in his own image” (Gen. 1:27). That establishes a clear accountability to God.

I think that one of the most problematic and subtle challenges to humanity in this day and age is the suggestion that we are the product of an atomic accident—and that there is life and intelligence in the material product of that accident. It is difficult to have any sense of accountability to an atomic accident.

But if there is an understanding that we are made by God in His likeness, we establish an overriding accountability to demonstrate the universal goodness and love of God. One of my favorite hymns says that we are “the noblest work of God,” that we are “immortal,” and that we reflect “His beauty, power and grace” (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 51).

Wow! How often have I caught myself behaving in a way that was anything but a demonstration of my nobility, beauty, power, and grace. Out of that accountability to reflect God in all that I do, flows a self-accountability, and a desire to demonstrate some degree of this spiritual perfection to my wife, our children, our neighbors, our country, and other African communities—and constantly to recognize their spiritual perfection as well. The more we engage in this accountability, the more we will enjoy real and empowering freedom, and with it will come peace.

There is a beautiful prayer written by Mary Baker Eddy that I have always found helpful. It begins, ” ‘Thy kingdom come;’ let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin….” Or, as I sometimes say in my own words, “Please help me to be a constant demonstration of the fact that I and all Your children are made in Your perfect image, and that we are Your noblest work, reflecting Your beauty, power, and grace.”

The prayer concludes: “… and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!” (Church Manual, p. 41). To me, this says, “May God’s Word guide all of us to the understanding that we are His children, and govern our conduct in that way.”

My hope for the coming year is that there will be an ever-developing recognition on the continent of Africa—and elsewhere in the world—of our likeness to and accountability to God. And flowing from that, the universal freedom and peace that go with it.

‘Under his wings shalt thou trust’

Melanie Alcazar
Vina del Mar, Chile

Looking out from my window, I see a continent with a variety of uniquely rich and colorful cultures that have evolved over time. They include natives of South America, Spanish conquistadors, missionaries, and European colonizers, plus an influx of refugees who fled Europe after World War II looking for a new start overseas.

This patchwork of peoples from many countries shows well-defined, very distinct identities, traditions, patterns of behavior, and approaches toward property and possessions. Yet their expressions in art, music, crafts, and literature have won world recognition, precisely because of the originality and quality of their work.

These distinct differences have led to the establishment of heavily guarded borders between countries, and have created chasms between the very rich and the very poor, the educated and uneducated, servants and those they serve—conditions that are never the best precursors of peace.

Another window on South America is opened by the nightly news on television. Images of violence, terrorism, kidnappings, greedy or hungry people, struggles for power, drug cartels, car bombings, and so on, are too often what get relayed to the rest of the world. These pictures produce frightening, ugly impressions of South America, and detract from the continent’s natural beauty, and from the warmth and hospitality of so many of the people I know.

Yet every day there is also encouraging news on television showing how many Latin American countries have begun to unite their shared interests and work together. Such reports strengthen my belief that mutual respect and brotherly and sisterly love alone can bring about the changes most people long to see on our continent. I am convinced that each person’s and each country’s different culture and experience of life need to be taken into consideration and respected, in order for recognizable progress to be made toward the peace of God, who is divine Love, which passes all understanding (see Phil. 4:7).

I love the assurance Mary Baker Eddy gave in one of her letters published in

Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896: ” ‘As in water face answereth to face,’ and in love continents clasp hands, so the oneness of God includes also His presence with those whose hearts unite in the purposes of goodness. Of this we may be sure: that thoughts winged with peace and love breathe a silent benediction over all the earth, cooperate with the divine power, and brood unconsciously o’er the work of His hand” (p. 152).

I pray daily for South America. And when I pray, I like to imagine God’s powerful presence as the wings of a huge mother bird protectively covering the continent. Often I find myself singing with the Psalmist, “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust” (Ps. 91:4).