There are times in international, national, and local politics that are trying. How trying they are may depend on one’s politics. For instance, any given United States presidential administration may be considered a bright spot or a bleak time depending on one’s point of view.
One of the things that has helped me not feel tossed about on the sea of national or international politics is to consider the world from a spiritual perspective, rising above geopolitical borders. When we look at a photo of the Earth taken from outer space, this big blue marble of a planet has no national boundaries. This view can lift our thought to a more spiritual sense of creation, pointed to in the Bible, where the first chapter of Genesis declares, “God created the heaven and the earth. … and, behold, it was very good” (verses 1, 31).
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of The Christian Science Monitor, embraced this larger, more spiritual view of creation and, thus, of government. She writes, “Mankind will be God-governed in proportion as God’s government becomes apparent, the Golden Rule utilized, and the rights of man and the liberty of conscience held sacred” (“The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,” p. 222).
The government of God, who is divine Spirit and wholly good, is purely spiritual and good. And the nature of man (referring to women as well as men), reflecting God, is inherently spiritual and good, as recorded in Genesis. So it is our divine nature to reflect God’s government, in qualities such as honesty, integrity, independence, balance, strength, fairness, love, and progress.
Regarding these qualities not as a series of admirable personality traits, but as a natural part of our true, divine being, leads to changes in our individual political experience and in humanity’s experience. As we pray to see more of the ever-present qualities of God’s government expressed in man, we are playing a more active part in government at the local, national, and international levels.
Whether a country’s leadership is expressing God’s government and honoring the Golden Rule, the rights of man, and the liberty of conscience can be a point of debate. However, the spiritual truth remains that God is permanently governing the universe.
We can yield to the spiritual understanding that the divine government is in operation – no matter what else appears to be happening. We can pray to see an abundance of God’s qualities expressed in our governments.
Mrs. Eddy writes, “I am asked, ‘What are your politics?’ I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government; to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself” (Miscellany, p. 276).
As we listen individually to God for how to best support righteous government, we can also listen for how to love and support our neighbor. The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself that Jesus spoke of is more easily followed when we see that what may appear a bright day for us in politics, may seem a dark day for our neighbor. How we choose to define someone as our neighbor is up to us; our neighbor might live within our country or in another country.
A good way to love our neighbor is to listen to them understandingly. Rather than seeing differing perspectives as a cause for division, our understanding of God’s government enables us to have compassion for our neighbors. When we see the earth as governed by God, we’re less likely to feel incensed by politics, and this enables us to react less and love more.
Our love-filled prayers help the qualities of justice, unity, and liberty to ultimately prevail.
The consistency of God’s government remains, regardless of which country we find ourselves in and what inequity or injustice we’re facing. No matter who is in office, we can know that God’s government includes everyone and meets everyone’s needs. We’re all neighbors and fellow citizens under God’s government.
