Our great concern

ONE evening, a person I was much in love with let me know in a telephone conversation that our relationship was over. I flopped on the bed, biting back tears. As I lay there, trying to understand what had gone wrong, these words from a hymn comforted me: O God, I cast my care on Thee; I triumph and adore; Henceforth my great concern shall be To love and praise Thee more.1 My concern shall be to love God? But what about the person I wanted to be with? That evening I changed the way I prayed. I stopped asking for God to give me something I was deeply concerned about. I found I had a deep desire to know Him as the one and only source of all goodness, the ever-present Parent, the eternal. Now I knew that what I really needed was a better understanding of God's pure love for me and for all His creation. Through this understanding I found healing. Today everyone is faced with concerns. All too often they are burdensome concerns about health or employment. Many who are single want to be married; some who are married want to be single. Then there are the underlying yearnings for happiness and a sense of belonging. Christ Jesus had the answer for these yearnings. He said, ``Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'' 2 What a promise! But how can this command be put into practice when there are so many concerns clamoring for attention? The answer is, through prayer. Even the sincere desire to know more about God's kingdom and righteousness is prayer. In His kingdom, which is actually the ultimate and only reality, God loves and treasures all His creation. Everyone is special to Him as His beloved child. We know from the Bible that God is infinite Love, all good. This infinite good can never stop. Divine Love has always been, and will always be, infinite. Then no power or concern or loneliness can obstruct the constant impartation of His infinite goodness. In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy,3 we read: `` `God is Love.' More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go.'' 4 I realized that I had been asking for more. Gradually I saw that as a child of God I have all good, and so does everyone, though appearances would often deny this and circumstances claim to disprove it. For each of us, our great concern should be to acknowledge God's presence and love. In the garden of Gethsemane, prior to his crucifixion, Jesus showed that his great concern was to do God's will. He said, ``Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.'' 5 What should we do when faced with challenges? Following Jesus' example, we can meekly turn to God and let Him show us the way. Not only during difficult times, but at all times we should seek to do the Father's will. Since God is good, His will is good. We can trust Him. As we understand more fully our true companioning with divine Love, we discover we cannot lose anything good. Our concern, then, is to know more fully that we companion with Love, with all good, and that this relationship is indestructible. God, Love, is Principle, the supreme lawmaker. This Principle governs all, has dominion over all, and fills all space. Therefore our source of love is not vulnerable or fickle. We can turn completely to God for guidance and comfort, as a little child runs to his father or mother. Then we will find the satisfaction, the love, the healing, we're looking for. 1 Christian Science Hymnal, No. 224. 2 Matthew 6:33. 3 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. 4 Science and Health, p. 6. 5 Luke 22:42.{et