A Bridge to Light

Question: (From a Christian Scientist)
When I see pain and suffering and war, how do I stay compassionate without accepting it as spiritually real?

This is one where I see a confusion of levels between what we might call the Absolute and the Relative, and it’s helpful to be aware of this distinction.  In the Absolute, there is no matter—there is only harmony. This is the truth of being. These are often the statements we share with one another in Non-Dual Systems such as Christian Science.

However…

When we are having the human experience of seeing pain and suffering, we need something that meets us where we are. Hearing that there is no pain or suffering can feel like it directly contradicts what seems very real, and so it doesn’t always help.  When prayer stays at that level, it can feel more like repeating words than actually bringing comfort or clarity.

The point, as I understand it, is to come to know the Absolute as true so deeply that even if we see the same physical evidence, we no longer feel it as pain and suffering. We do not give it power or authority. We no longer believe it.

For example, when one of our dogs had a severe shoulder wound that the vet said could not be stitched due to lack of skin, there was a large open wound.  At the time, I remembered an illustration from hypnosis, where someone believed a piece of steak was a watermelon—yet it had never actually been a watermelon.  So when I looked at the wound, I refused to accept the evidence of the material senses. I held to the truth that this dog was whole, intact, and harmonious—exactly as God made him.  Within a short time, he was completely healed, leaving no mark, as though nothing had ever occurred.

If, in that situation, I had continued to feel sorry for the dog, accepted the vet’s prognosis, and focused on the suffering, I would have felt compassion mixed with sadness—but I would also have been reinforcing the problem.  So I had to turn my thought away from what the physical senses were presenting.  That is the work.  Jesus had compassion, but he did not dwell on suffering.  In Christian Science language this would be said that he held to the individual’s wholeness.  So when we say there is no war, no suffering in the Absolute sense, this is true—there is only harmony as God knows it.  As we begin to understand this more deeply, we find we do not feel the same horror, distress, or emotional weight, because we recognise that what appears is not ultimate reality and has no true power. 

At the same time, the Relative level can help us move toward this understanding. We cannot always jump immediately from distress to a full realisation of spiritual truth.  So we might begin with something we can genuinely hold onto, such as:  “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.”  If we see something troubling—someone homeless, for example—we might gently correct our thought:  “No, God is present. God is meeting every need.”  Holding to thoughts like this helps counter the feeling that something is wrong or out of control.  It also reminds us of ways we have seen help, provision, and care in our own lives. 

You might then ask: does suffering have a purpose?

It can appear that way, because we often see people turn toward God during difficult times.  This pattern shows up in many biblical accounts—when people turn away, they experience hardship; when they turn back, harmony is restored.  But as Mary Baker Eddy explains in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures*, we learn “through suffering or Science.”  Suffering is not sent by God as a lesson.  It arises from a mistaken understanding of life, not from divine intention.  While it may prompt a return to truth, it is not necessary. We can learn through understanding, without needing suffering at all.

There is also an important distinction between denying suffering and actually seeing through it.

Jesus was never cold or indifferent. He did not ignore people—but neither did he accept suffering as real or powerful.  He did not “jump into the hole” with them. Instead, he stood firm in what was spiritually true about them, even when they could not see it for themselves.  In doing so, he lifted them out.

So in practice, the most gentle and effective way forward is to begin where you are.  When you see or hear something distressing, instead of immediately accepting, “this is real, this is terrible,” and becoming overwhelmed, turn to something you know about God.  You might start with:  “Even if this looks difficult, I know God is present. I know God is helping.”  From there, you can hold to the deeper truth of wholeness and harmony.  This is not passive—it is active, and it is a form of help.  And if there is something practical for you to do, it will become clear.  Otherwise, you can trust that your prayer is not doing nothing—it is contributing in a real and meaningful way.

* Remember that mankind must sooner or later, either by suffering or by Science, be convinced of the error that is to be overcome.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 240:24)