Are you sure?
This bookmark will be removed from all folders and any saved notes will be permanently removed.
A prayer at the mall
One day while walking through a shopping mall, I heard shouts and cries from a young mother that her little girl was missing. A crowd had gathered, including police officers and security guards. People all around were on their cellphones making calls, and the young mother was frantically giving out the description of her child and what she was wearing. I gathered that someone had reported seeing a man take the little girl away.
As I walked across the plaza toward my destination on the other side, I prayed with all my heart to see everyone as God’s expression. My prayer went something like this: “God is All. God fills all space. He knows all and sees all. God, divine Mind, knows exactly where that child is. She is safe in God’s loving arms, and no harm can come to her.”
Then I thought of the alleged perpetrator, and remembered that that person was also loved by God, complete and fully satisfied with all that God has supplied. He or she need not take from another to satisfy his or her needs. In the textbook on Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “The children of God have but one Mind. How can good lapse into evil, when God, the Mind of man, never sins?” (p. 470). I also sang Hymn No. 267 to myself, which begins:
Our God is All-in-all,
His children cannot fear;
See baseless evil fall,
And know that God is here.
Our God is All; in space
No subtle error creeps;
We see Truth’s glowing face,
And Love that never sleeps. (Emily F. Seal)
I must admit I had to overcome some feelings of fear, since at the time there had been a rash of kidnappings around the country reported in the news. I’d worried about the safety of my grandchildren, warning their parents to keep close watch on them.
As I prayed in the shopping mall, I remembered something else Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,—a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love” (Science and Health, p. 1). I asked myself if I had absolute faith in God’s omnipotent care. As I continued praying, I began to feel comfortable and confident in God’s goodness and presence and power.
About ten minutes later I walked back through the plaza and had to check if I was in the same place. All was calm and quiet. The young mother was gone. The crowd had dispersed, but I overheard a few words explaining what a relief it was that the young girl had been found safe. I knew that all was well.
I’m sure others must have been praying, too, for the girl’s safe return. I was so grateful for this proof of God’s perfect love—surely the girl’s mother was blessed, but so was I. Fear for the safety of my loved ones had disappeared, replaced by the confidence that they—and everyone—are always safe in the arms of divine Love.
—Nancy Robison, Newport Beach, California, US