Love is the only activity

By Anthony John Whitehouse CS

Occaisionally one is struck by a notion of such simplicity and import that one finds it difficult to realise that in one short phrase the kingdom of heaven unfolds itself .

In this one notion " Love is the ONLY activity " one finds exactly that combination of power and import that transforms mere consciousness from simply thought into the very activity of the Christ.

Mrs Eddy tells us that " All that really exists is the Divine Mind and its idea and in this mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal" . The exact power of that statement eluded me until I understood that Love is the only activity because within the ambit of that truth lay the reallsation that God, the divine Mind HAD to be present as the operation of Love , was present as the operation of Love and there was nothing else was operating because only God, the Divine Mind alone was capable of operating.

The "aha" moment comes in all this when we realise that what appears NOT to be the operation of Love has to be the operation of Love when we realise that Love is the only thing that can operate. You could be standing at the foot of the cross at the time of crucifixion and might be excused for wondering how this event could possibly be the operation of Love.

Although it looked like the crucifixion what was really happening on the cross was Jesus demonstrating that death actually has no power over us. Seen simply at the crucifixion the event looks like an appallling miscarriage of justice. Seen through dictum "Love alone can operate" it is seen to be the singular most important event in human history. Love transforms the horrow into sublimity.

So if you are going through an experience which appears to evidence an encounter with pure evil, or which manifests no sense of love, harmony or heaven insist on the divine maxim that Love is the only activity and " you will entertain an angel unawares" as Mrs Eddy puts it. It is our ability to do this, to insist on God or love being present or active which makes us the Christ.

Jesus was the greatest exponent of this maxim whoever ever lived. Knowing that Love, God was ever actiive and the Sole activity allowed him to walk on water, feed the five thousand and raise the dead. It allowed Mrs Eddy to understand that a dry well did not have to be that way.

The great difficulty we face humanly in all this is that we just cannot understand how what looks like the appearance of evil could possibilly have any relationship to the divine. If we are struggling with unemployment , poverty and ill health how could these things possibilly have the taint of love about them ? Well , if they force us to abandon the idea that we are human beings , if they are the evidence of our own sloppy ideas that we are separated from God then surely they serve a purpose ? Surely we can say like the prodigal son " I really need to leave this place" knowing that the Love of God will aocomodate us in our right place.

The mere fact that we insist that Love is the only thing that can operate means the transforming power of that realisation must operate for our benefit even though we do not need to know how it will operate. Its like the time I found myself stuck at a train station in London last winter. My train to Paris had been cancelled and I had no where to go. There appeared to be no human solution but I knew that Divine Love had to be the only thing that could operate even though all the evidence was that it was apparently not operatng.

I was standing in front of customs section of the station. The station was organised like an airport because it was dedicated to international travel. In my need I reached out to apply the laws I knew to be true. I insisted that Love was the only thing that could operate. As I was insisting on this, the door to the customs department opened but there was no one around. Through that door I could see the platform to the trains. I just walked through to the plaftform area and shortly afterward was able to board a train. The ticket inspectors completely ignored me. I was even able to get a seat on an otherwise very crowded train. Miracle ? No.. it was the operation of divine law, the law that Love has to operate because it is the only law that can operate.

The only mistake we make in life is not understanding that Love is the only power than can and does operate.