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Out of nowhere, our 6 year old daughter began biting her bottom lip until it was raw. Telling her to stop biting her lip only aggravated the situation. So, I prayed a bewildered prayer and trusted a power higher than myself to take another step to help our daughter. It was a few days later, when volunteering in her school classroom that is occurred to me to pray a bigger prayer. I wanted to come into agreement with a spiritual view of community. Why? Our daughter’s classmate and friend, Kyra, was biting her bottom lip and our daughter was being influenced to copy the damaging fixation. I considered manipulating the friendship so that they could not spend time together, but Kyra needed a friend. Kyra’s dad was a doctor who had been headline news in the community newspaper because a few of his patients were convicting him of indecent practices. I knew Kyra. I knew the family. The news related to the dad was a heavy blow to the family and the community. Kyra’s mom was searching Scriptures for answers. Her religious background was different from mine, therefore I respected her path and we didn’t talk about it. I treated her as I normally did. It was obvious that the news, now known and being gossiped about by the local mass populace, was harshly affecting Kyra. My peace was restored as I read this from 21st Century Science and Health, “Humanity must learn that the influences of propaganda or crowd thinking are powerless. Crowd thinking is oppressive, but only a phase of nothingness. Christian Science devastates the kingdom of evil, and preeminently promotes good-will and virtue in families and therefore in the community…God is not influenced by human beings.” Human beings automatically assume we have power to influence. We whine, threaten, coerce, or get pushy, but loss of control persists until the countercosmology that God is the only influence and source of control is admitted and acted on. Therefore, instead of giving human beings power to influence, my prayer was attentive to the influence of Love and Truth, my God. If Kyra’s dad needed to be corrected by the truth, it would happen and it can be juxtaposed with love, not a “feel sorry for” love, but a “demand for integrity on the job,” love. Nasty things happen in life and we get through the nastiness gracefully when Truth and Love, instead of peer pressure or crowd thinking, are influencing our thoughts and actions. The prayer, grounded on the scientific fact that Truth and Love are the only influence, proved effective. Our daughter stopped biting her lip and did well in school, even while continuing her friendship with Kyra. Her dad did have to correct his ways. It wasn’t easy for the family but they were not totally ostracized and the mom and daughters matured nobly in the community.
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indecent behavior, biting lips, doctor, family trouble, school friends, bad influence, God heals, what is christian science,
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