Skip to footer

The universe – as one verse

As we open our hearts to God’s song of universal harmony, we begin to find that even when discord and chaos seem to hold sway, grace and peace are never out of reach.

  • By Janet Clements

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
Loading the player...

When I think about the universe, I love how that word is divided into uni-verse – one verse. It speaks to the idea of all creation as one glorious, synchronized whole. I like to think of the universe as the song of God, with God conducting all of creation to sound forth a beautiful melody unfolding the expression of divine Soul, purposeful goodness.

But recently as I was walking into my office building, I came upon a scene that seemed anything but harmonious. There was a homeless man stretched out on the street. Standing nearby were two police officers, and a woman across the street was screaming obscenities at them.

Christian Science has taught me that eternal Soul, God, is the omnipotent creator of the universe, including all of us as His spiritual offspring. We are held in perfect unity and harmony with each other and with God, with good.

I have found it helpful to cherish in my prayers each day this spiritual fact of the perfect harmony of everyone and everything in the uni-verse. God being omnipotent, that song of harmony is always present – even when circumstances present a different picture. Holding to this spiritual reality enables us to see evidence of it more clearly in our everyday experiences.

So I went into my office and prayed quietly with these ideas until I felt a melody of peace in my heart. Then I realized that I no longer heard discord outside. I looked out the window and saw that, indeed, everything was calm. The homeless man was being lovingly cared for and removed from the street by the police officers with grace and dignity. And the woman across the street had stopped yelling and walked away peacefully.

At times events may present what seems like cacophony. Yet right in the midst of division, injustice, and human opinions, is the unifying Principle of the universe, divine Love, that orchestrates in our hearts the glorious “one verse,” as I like to think of it, of infinite harmony. In our daily rounds, we can pray to see what God has already done – to listen spiritually for the sweet song of God’s uni-verse, rich in mercies and boundless blessings!

Adapted from the Dec. 3, 2020, Christian Science Daily Lift podcast.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to The universe – as one verse
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2022/0708/The-universe-as-one-verse
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe