"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." When asked to explain who is the neighbor, Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan. Christians generally take it to mean we should take care of our fellow-man in need.
Through revelation, Mary Baker Eddy discovered the Science underlying Jesus Christ's life and teaching, and here, specifically, the 2nd Commandment:
"It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one
Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love.
Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact
becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-
hood of man will be established." - S&H
Breath-taking in expansiveness, but where can we start? First, get rid of the idea that this is a group effort! If I am like the Levite and priest in the parable of the Good Samaritan, I will recoil with fear from such expansiveness of thought, clinging to my familiar sense of limitation. If, on the other hand, I am as the Good Samaritan, I will walk on fearlessly. Right here, right now, I can embrace all mankind in thought as having one God, and therefore one Mind, one Life, one Truth, one Love - these four being synonyms of God. This "treatment" includes me as well as my neighbor.
I will never forget an experience that gave a hint of the power of this kind of right-thinking. It was just prior to Christmas when the shopping malls were jammed with last-minute shoppers. Normally I would not go near them if you paid me! But there was a need, and I was impelled to go into the fray. I prayed before going, knowing that Love and Love's work must fit. In the mall I found total peace as I walked through the crowds. It was as though there was in fact only one Mind operating - each person in harmony with the next. Having accomplished my task, I left in a state of wonderment! and peace.
As we are conscious of this One Mind, Truth, Life, Love shared by all mankind, light is emitted into the darkness of universal human consciousness. Today, more than ever, there is a need for this Good Samaritan to take the time and effort to let the light shine:
"Having no other gods,
turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide
him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-
ing that Mind which was also in Christ." - S&H