Globalization – its significance for all
A Christian Science perspective: What globalization may mean for you.
According to a recent Monitor’s View, “Post-crisis, the world reconnects its dots,” indicators of globalization are rebounding since the economic crisis in 2008. The world is getting a bit smaller, with some increasing flow of goods, services, and ideas across borders.
This may seem unrelated to us individually as we sometimes deal with pressing issues of our own. Yet a greater awareness that nations and people are increasingly connected can encourage us to recognize mutual benefits and to be more sensitive to the needs of others worldwide. It can lead us to realize more fully that while the struggles of people in another culture may be different from anything we’ve had to face, the essence of those challenges is not necessarily unfamiliar. For instance, the desire for greater freedom can relate not only to life under a particular political system but to something we’re wrestling with individually – maybe a dominating family member, disease, some enslaving habit.
Globalization points to the fact that despite borders, different forms of government, and diverse cultures, we share some common interests and, in a profound sense, we share a common origin. The Bible’s book of Malachi asks, “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” (2:10)
Christ Jesus’ teachings indicate that, whoever we are and wherever we may be, a better understanding of our actual origin and nature can lead to a higher sense of connectedness to others. The Lord’s Prayer, which he gave us, begins, “Our Father.” What an illuminating starting point for seeing more of what we have in common, for seeing the impartiality of God’s love, and for establishing global interactions that rest on more solid foundations.
In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, has written, “The foundation of mortal discord is a false sense of man’s origin” (p. 262). If man is actually created by the one God in His image, as the Bible teaches – if he originated in God, who is perfect divine Love – it follows that the self-interest and conflict so prevalent in the world aren’t in line with the truest view of reality. Ultimately, a clearer perception of reality, beyond the variable mix of good and evil taken in by the physical senses, will likely be attained by humanity. When we see God as the only creator, true existence has to be recognized as the outcome of what’s wholly good, what’s spiritual and indestructible. It has to be the outcome of divine Spirit and Love, harmonious and permanent. And, as Jesus showed, this understanding isn’t just theory; it has practical, healing results.
Globalization hints at something much deeper and more enduring about the origin of each one of us and our relationship to each other. Through living more God-centered lives, and through specific prayer that holds to the spiritual reality of everyone’s likeness to God, each of us can play a modest but valuable role in bringing to light the goodness and unity inherent throughout God’s universe.