The Golden Rule is a must lesson for little kids. Even if parents never mention it by
name, they have been teaching the Golden Rule to their children all along. Every
request to share, to think of other's feelings, to obey adults, to be kind -- is asking
children to do unto others as they would like to have done to them in kind.

This rule of God is not just an ideal for Christians: it is a universal principle that
has been glimpsed by every great religious leader or prophet. Think what a
wonderful world it would be if every one of every religion practiced the Golden
Rule all the time!

Years ago, I cut an article out of a local paper during the Christmas season. It had
no author listed, but was a compilation of the expressions of the world's great
religions that are similar to the Golden Rule.  It is impressive to see how

universally this "Golden Rule" -- this great spiritual law -- is acknowledged:

BAHAIISM: "If thou lookest toward justice, choose then for others what thou
choosest for thyself. Blessed is he who prefers his brother before himself."

BRAHMANISM: "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would
cause you pain if done to you."

BUDDHISM: "In five ways should a clansman minister to his friends and familiars:
By generosity, courtesy and benevolence, treating them as he treats himself and by
being as good as his word."

CHRISTIANITY: "All things whatsover you would that men should do to you, do
you even to them: For this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

CONFUCIANISM: "Is there one word which may serve as a rule to practice for

all one's life? The Master said, 'Is not reciprocity (sympathy, consideration) such

a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not unto others.'"

HINDUISM: "The lifegiving breaths of other creatures are as dear to them as the
breaths of one's own self. Men gifted with intelligence and purified souls should
always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated."

JAINISM: "Indifferent to worldly objects, a man should wander about, treating all
creatures in the world as he himself would be treated."

JUDAISM: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

MOHAMMEDANISM: "No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother
what he loves for himself."

SIKHISM: "As thou deemest thyself, so deem others; then shalt thou become a
partner in Heaven."

SHINTOISM: "Irrespective of their nationality, language, manners and culture, men
should give mutual aid, and enjoy reciprocal, peaceful pleasure by showing in their
conduct that they are brethren."

TAOISM: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and regard your
neighbor's loss as your own loss."

ZOROASTRIANISM: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto
another whatsoever is not good for itself."

(End of Newspaper article)

 

* * * *

The teachings of Christian Science also include the demand that we practice the
Golden Rule in our daily life. As Jesus taught us, we are to go out of our way to be
kind, generous, merciful, and helpful to others, no matter how they may have been
treating us. And, because Christian Science is expressed by right thinking, it is
also important that our thoughts express the Golden Rule, even if no one can see
what we are thinking. So, here is a possible metaphysical way to consider the
Golden Rule, which would incorporate the spirit of the Beatitudes:

"THINK about others as we would have them THINK about us"!

I hope to post a special lesson for little children on this subject some day. But, until
then, I think this is a fairly easy concept to teach. It is a need that comes up daily,
and can be discussed then and there. Of course, after reminding them of the Golden
Rule, most kids respond along the lines of: "Well, HE did it to me FIRST!" To them,
that is only fair! The idea of being a Christian is not always easy for children, so be
patient. After all, the important thing for parents is practicing the Golden Rule 
themselves, and setting a good example for children and others who may be
watching.

Below are citations from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, and author of its Textbook, Science and Health

with Key to the Scriptures. These citations will illustrate the importance of the
Golden Rule in the teachings and practice of Christian Science:


"The First Commandment of the Hebrew Decalogue, 'Thou shalt have no other gods
before me,' and the Golden Rule are the all-in-all of Christian Science. They are
the spiritual idealism and realism which, when realized, constitute a Christian
Scientist, heal the sick, reform the sinner, and rob the grave of its victory." (My. 5)

"Christian Science teaches: Owe no man; be temperate; abstain from alcohol and
tobacco; be honest, just, and pure; cast out evil and heal the sick; in short, Do unto
others as ye would have others do to you." (My. 114)

"I counsel Christian Scientists under all circumstances to obey the Golden Rule, and
to adopt Pope's axiom: 'An honest, sensible, and well-bred man will not insult me,
and no other can.'" ('01 30)

"The God-inspired walk calmly on though it be with bleeding footprints, and in the
hereafter they will reap what they now sow. The pampered hypocrite may have a
flowery pathway here, but he cannot forever break the Golden Rule and escape the
penalty due." (S&H pg 41)

"We should love our enemies and help them on the basis of the Golden Rule; but
avoid casting pearls before those who trample them under foot, thereby robbing
both themselves and others." (S&H pg 234)

"The use of the rod is virtually a declaration to the child's mind that sensation
belongs to matter. Motives govern acts, and Mind governs man. If you make clear
to the child's thought the right motives for action, and cause him to love them, they
will lead him aright: if you educate him to love God, good, and obey the Golden
Rule, he will love and obey you without your having to resort to corporeal
punishment." (Mis. 51)

"When asked by a wife or a husband important questions concerning their happiness,
the substance of my reply is: God will guide you. Be faithful over home relations;
they lead to higher joys: obey the Golden Rule for human life, and it will spare you
much bitterness. It is pleasanter to do right than wrong; it makes one ruler over one's
self and hallows home, -- which is woman's world. Please your husband, and he
will be apt to please you; preserve affection on both sides." (Mis. 287)

"When, by losing his faith in matter and sin, one finds the spirit of Truth, then he
practises the Golden Rule spontaneously; and obedience to this rule spiritualizes
man, for the world's nolens volens cannot enthrall it. Lust, dishonesty, sin, disable
the student; they preclude the practice or efficient teaching of Christian Science, the
truth of man's being. (My. 4)

"Forgetting the Golden Rule and indulging sin, men cannot serve God; they cannot
demonstrate the omnipotence of divine Mind that heals the sick and the sinner.
Human will may mesmerize and mislead man; divine wisdom, never." (My 5)

"I am asked, 'Is there a hell?' Yes, there is a hell for all who persist in breaking the
Golden Rule or in disobeying the commandments of God. Physical science has
sometimes argued that the internal fires of our earth will eventually consume this
planet. Christian Science shows that hidden unpunished sin is this internal fire,--
even the fire of a guilty conscience, waking to a true sense of itself, and burning in
torture until the sinner is consumed, -- his sins destroyed. This may take millions of
cycles, but of the time no man knoweth. The advanced psychist knows that this hell
is mental, not material, and that the Christian has no part in it. Only the makers of
hell burn in their fire." (My 160)

"Watch your thoughts, and see whether they lead you to God and into harmony with
His true followers. Guard and strengthen your own citadel more strongly. Thus you
will grow wiser and better through every attack of your foe, and the Golden Rule
will not rust for lack of use . . ." (Mis. 213)

"The Constitution of the United States does not provide that materia medica shall
make laws to regulate man's religion; rather does it imply that religion shall permeate
our laws. Mankind will be God-governed in proportion as God's government
becomes apparent, the Golden Rule utilized, and the rights of man and the liberty of
conscience held sacred. Meanwhile, they who name the name of Christian Science
will assist in the holding of crime in check, will aid the ejection of error, will
maintain law and order, and will cheerfully await the end -- justice and judgment."
(My. 222)

"To my sense, the most imminent dangers confronting the coming century are: the
robbing of people of life and liberty under the warrant of the Scriptures; the claims
of politics and of human power, industrial slavery, and insufficient freedom of
honest competition; and ritual, creed, and trusts in place of the Golden Rule,
'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.'" (From a
comment by Mary Baker Eddy requested by the "New York World,"
December 1900, reprinted in My. pg 266)

"Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, nations are helped onward towards
justice, righteousness, and peace, which are the landmarks of prosperity. In order to
apprehend more, we must practise what we already know of the Golden Rule, which
is to all mankind a light emitting light." (My. 282)

"Rest assured that the good you do unto others you do to yourselves as well, and the
wrong you may commit must, will, rebound upon you. The entire purpose of true
education is to make one not only know the truth but live it -- to make one enjoy
doing right, make one not work in the sunshine and run away in the storm, but work
midst clouds of wrong, injustice, envy, hate; and wait on God, the strong deliverer,
who will reward righteousness and punish iniquity. 'As thy days, so shall thy
strength be.'" (My 252)

"Our watchwords are Truth and Love; and if we abide in these, they will abound in
us, and we shall be one in heart, -- one in motive, purpose, pursuit. Abiding in Love,
not one of you can be separated from me; and the sweet sense of journeying on
together, doing unto others as ye would they should do unto you, conquers all
opposition, surmounts all obstacles, and secures success. If you falter, or fail to
fulfil this Golden Rule, though you should build to the heavens, you would build
on sand." (Mis. 135)

"And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was
also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be
merciful, just, and pure." (S&H 497)