“I came to see [love] as the most powerful weapon we have”

One thing I’d like to mention in conjunction with our reading of the amplified We Knew Mary Baker Eddy vol. II is a much greater sense of love.  I was so struck by the many times the writers mentioned that even (or especially) when Mrs. Eddy was under attack, her only response was love.  As I read, I came to see that as the most powerful weapon we have.  I also was increasingly aware of the many opportunities that come up each day to use this “weapon” against the many claims of animal magnetism.  One small example is this:  early in the fall, I went to a conference on working with challenging and distractible students.  The presenter suggested taking 60 seconds of complete quiet at the beginning of every class.  Her idea included deep breathing and becoming very aware of ones body – a kind of meditation, I guess, but I decided I could use it rather differently.  I instituted the minute of quiet at the beginning of every class.  I wasn’t strict about it.  I said that I would be closing my eyes, and anyone who wanted to could do it too; all I asked for was quiet.  We have done this every day since then.  I don’t know what the students do during that time, because my eyes are closed, and I am praying.  What comes during those moments most often is a warm sense of love for every one of my students.  It seems clearer and clearer that there is never any reason to be irritable, angry, upset. Love is all that is needed to sweep those feelings away and leave me much more able to respond to what the people around me truly need.