There cannot be peace in our homes, our local communities, our country, or our world unless we, as individuals, are at peace. As the second verse of “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” Hymn 521 in the “Christian Science Hymnal: Hymns 430-603,” says, “Let there be peace on earth, / and let it begin with me” (Jill Jackson, © Jan-Lee Music 1955, 1983). But it must be a spiritual peace, as both the Bible and the writings of the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, make clear. The Bible says, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6), and Mrs. Eddy states, “The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 506).
This spiritual apprehension, or spiritual-mindedness, has no knowledge of conflict – not because it is ignorant or naive, but because it understands that God, Spirit, is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent and that man is God’s reflection, made in His image and likeness, as the first chapter of the Bible tells us.
It’s crucial to differentiate between this spiritual man of God’s making and mortal man. If we see ourselves and others as this mortal man, then we are believing either that we are not God’s reflection or that we reflect the changeable nature attributed to the Jehovah of the Old Testament. God is Principle; therefore, God is wholly good, and so are we as God’s spiritual image.
One Bible-based synonym for God is Mind. This infinite Mind not only knows all but is the source of all true knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, and understanding. Since God, divine Truth, created all that truly exists, if God didn’t make it, it is not a reality and cannot be known. It follows, then, that warfare, hostility, or conflict is not reality, since it doesn’t come from God. Instead, reality is the harmony, peace, and love that are God’s eternal qualities.
What prevents us from experiencing the peace within that isn’t dependent on circumstances—the spiritual peace that expresses God? One obstacle is entertaining fear. A small example of how eradicating fear achieves tranquility occurred for me this past winter.
On a Sunday in January, my youngest son texted me that he and his wife were quite ill with a stomach bug. I felt a strong urge to go to my son’s home and offer to care for him, his wife, and my baby grandson. But as I drove, I realized that I was afraid that the illness would be passed along to me, rendering me unable to help this sweet family. I thought frequently of this assurance from Science and Health: “Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself” (p. 385). By the time I arrived, the fear had been replaced by peace.
My daughter-in-law said she was afraid I would also become ill, so she would keep her distance. But I assured her that I was not concerned. During my time in their home, I cared for my grandson and did some laundry and light cleaning. On my last night there, I was holding and rocking my grandson, trying to get him to sleep. Feeling congestion in his chest, I silently and firmly denied that it had any validity in light of God’s ever-present goodness and care. I felt such love for this innocent baby. Within moments, the congestion went away. The next day, I drove home. I never got ill, either at my son’s house or after my return home. Nor did my grandson.
Each time we eradicate fear in this way and experience the healing impact of doing so, it reaches well beyond just our own lives. While this alone can’t achieve world peace, in this instance it contributed a healing sense of peace to the mental atmosphere in my son’s home.
Does it not make sense that this same contribution to the destruction of fear in the face of contagion can be applied to the destruction of our fear of the contagion of conflict? Yes. When we experience tranquility on the spiritual basis of understanding that God is ever present, all-knowing, and all-powerful, we not only overcome fear but also increasingly see the unreality of any disruptor of peace, such as hate or apathy.
Just as a stone tossed into a pond generates outward-moving ripples, this spiritual peace, the uncovering of this deep-settled calm in our own consciousness, ripples out and blesses the world.
Adapted from an article published in the March 9, 2026, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
