We’re supposed to do good, to help others. We know that.
Yet many of us probably share the same private, unwanted reluctance to actually do something about it. Even the intellectual acknowledgment that doing good is “right,” that it’s a Bible-based admonition, or that it’s our “duty,” isn’t always enough to get us past our fears or indifference. It takes something more.
That “something more” must be powerful enough to inspire us, to reverse indifference and self-centeredness, and to move us. It must be constant and compelling. It must be genuine love—God-derived, not self-originated. The love that comes from God, divine Love, is powerful and limitless. Expressing this infinite love is what enlarges our capacity to do good beyond what the limited, human mind says is justified or possible.
I caught a glimpse of this when a colleague offered to help me during a difficult time. The offer came when I felt buried in the responsibilities of a new job. Although I was feeling inadequate to produce the quantity and quality of work required, I didn’t think I was giving any hint of the pressure this was putting on me.
One afternoon this individual called on the phone. We discussed a few items of business, and then he said, “If there’s anything you’d like me to do to help, please let me know. I’d love to help, if I can.” I recall how sincere he seemed to be at the thought of helping. And I knew this individual was already working extra hours each day just to care for his own responsibilities.
I welcomed his help. But most important, I welcomed the reminder of how wonderful and freeing it can be to oneself to help someone in need, even when one’s own needs seem to be many. We truly feel we’re doing ourselves the greatest good by doing good to others. This seems to me to be the vital point Christ Jesus was making about doing good to others when he said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you.”
Yet the opposite of this is also worth thinking about—that when we limit our love and care for others, we’re actually limiting our own experience of God’s powerful, enlivening love. His boundless love is always present, but we more readily feel it as we express His nature in love for others.
It seemed to me that my colleague knew this. He must have understood something of what Mrs. Eddy says about the subject in her Miscellaneous Writings: “To love, and to be loved, one must do good to others.” It was evident that it wasn’t depleting for him to offer his assistance, but enriching.
At a church meeting sometime ago members were invited to consider how the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, has brought a deeper spirituality to their lives. Later they were asked to make the effort to share what had benefited them by giving a copy of the book to someone else.
My initial reaction was probably not unlike that of others—a wonderful assignment, but give it to whom? Nonetheless, I felt this would be an immeasurable blessing to someone, so I committed to praying about next steps.
As I was thinking about the assignment, a couple of things came to mind. First, that sharing this book was one of the finest good deeds I could do for someone else. Second, that doing so should be natural. That was particularly important to me because up to that point the circumstances seemed somehow unnatural—having something to give and apparently having no takers.
When I got home that night there was a letter to our family postmarked Russia from an exchange student who had stayed with us a few months earlier. It couldn’t have been clearer to me from what she shared in her letter just how much she could use Science and Health. I sent a Russian translation of the book to her the next day.
Doing good for others doesn’t have to feel as though we’re venturing into strange territory. There is a naturalness in helping our fellow beings because of, not in spite of, who we really are—the expression of God, Love.
But it does require something of us. It requires commitment. To the degree that we commit ourselves to enlarging our sphere of love, a love that is God-centered and all-embracing, and to listening for Love’s direction, our efforts to be helpful to others won’t be burdensome. They’ll feel more as though we’re doing exactly what we are meant to do.