Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Last November, a few days after Hamas attacked Israel, I was traveling on a ferry from Denmark to Germany. I went out on the deck and met a group of young Palestinians, one of whom came up to me and asked me in a very friendly way where I was from and where I was going. We started talking and as a Palestinian and he tried to justify the attack of Hamas. I replied that violence can never be justified, not even by the long history of violence between Israel and Palestine, and then he asked me if I could give him some advice for his life. After a brief moment of surprise, a clear voice entered my heart and I answered: Love your neighbour as yourself.

He was very surprised and I explained to him that there was literally no other way out of this decades-long conflict because any form of violence would always be met with violence, a deadly spiral. he kept insisting that the Israelis were in the wrong. I asked him if there were people he deeply loved, and of course, he said yes, and we got into a conversation about love. We talked about how love, real, deep love from the human heart, is an active divine gift, is always reciprocated, and that we must trust and can trust in a great solution of every conflict based on the divine love.

His initial great resistance melted and I noticed that he was very thoughtful. Suddenly he took me in his arms, embraced me and kissed me on the cheek. I then also kissed him on the cheek, called him my brother and we said goodbye. We had both had an encounter with divine love, with the Christ, with the Truth.

Deep gratitude fills me and never leaves me, gratitude for Christian Science, for the love of the Christ, for the genius, the patience and the meekness of Mary Baker Eddy, for the wonderful people who surround us, and for the great work done for and by Plainfield Christian Science Independent.