The Family of God

In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time-honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour.”

One of the material systems that is most difficult for many people to forsake is the belief that we belong to our human parents or other family members, or that our children belong to us. We have been taught here that we are all God’s children. My parents are His children, just as I am; my children are God’s children, just as I am; and in fact, we are all brothers and sisters in God.

There is nothing in this that is disrespectful to my parents or ungrateful to them for what they have done. There is nothing in this that says I have no sense of responsibility for my children. It is a matter of who we each belong to. Jesus said it very clearly when he stated that his brothers and sisters were those who did the will of God. This has enabled me to have much better relationships with human family members. It has helped me give my children to God and let them find their own relationships with God.

This understanding also destroys the false human theory that says we can inherit traits from our relatives, either good or bad, or that certain diseases can be transmitted through families. Our only inheritance is from our Father-Mother God. “What a glorious inheritance is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent Love!” (Mis.)