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Dependable Mother Love

A Christian Science perspective: Praying for child refugees. 

  • By Jan K. Keeler

As we read about the refugee children in Europe, our hearts cannot help being touched, not only by their stories of courage and resiliency, but also by their needs.

Turning to prayer regarding these children, I am reminded of the Bible-based truth that God is not only their Father, but their Mother. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, explains that “Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 332). The Bible speaks of God guiding many young people, including Jacob: “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him...” (Deuteronomy 32:11, 12).

I felt a deeper understanding of this divine Mothering presence myself when I was in my 20s. I had an opportunity to work for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. My boss, a seasoned Christian Scientist, had an acute awareness that God was our Mother and was dedicated to seeing each of his young employees not as vulnerable immature mortals, separated from the nurturing presence of Spirit, threatened by violence, chance, or unforetold circumstances – not outside of, but actually living within Mother Love’s allness. He would remind us that as Mother Love’s spiritual offspring, we each were individual spiritual ideas, at one with infinite Mind’s wisdom, and that we therefore had the full capacity to make sound decisions.

I remember one time when the staff, sitting together in a conference room, was stymied by a challenge. Our boss asked us all to stop in that moment and pray, acknowledging that God was our Mother and that Mother God, being the source of all intelligence and consciousness, would tell us what steps were needed. Within moments the situation was resolved.

Since then, I have relied on the practical, tangible truth that Mother Love is a supporting, guiding, and comforting presence, and I have asserted this in my prayers for others. This spiritual fact is true for each of the precious children in Europe, in refugee camps, and all corners of the globe.

Let us have a heightened awareness that Mother God is available to all who are looking for protection, abundance, health, and well-being. Right where fragility appears to be, God’s guidance can be found as a support – just as God guided so many people in the Bible and even me and my young co-workers in my own experience.

All human needs – emotional, financial, educational – are known to and met by infinite, divine Mind, and as we recognize the inherent strength and intelligence of one another, including refugee children, solutions for their care will become more apparent in our prayers.

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