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Divinely protected
Last spring my wife and I were traveling through northern Illinois on a trip to visit friends in Indiana. We were driving at highway speed on a narrow two-lane highway behind an RV towing a panel truck. Without warning, a ladder broke loose from the top of the panel truck and fell to the road a short distance in front of us.
At that instant my wife vehemently declared, “We are safe!” and our car suddenly veered left into the oncoming lane to avoid the ladder. I suppose I must have turned the steering wheel for evasive action. I only know that my action was not a decision on my part—and I could not see if any vehicles were approaching in the oncoming lane. None were. I think of that occurrence as our being divinely protected.
Reading and studying the weekly Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly is part of our daily routine. The protective power of divine Love, God, is frequently brought out in these Lessons. And praying for safety is part of our preparation for trips. We arm ourselves with God’s assurances of protection found in the Bible, particularly in the 23rd, 46th, and 91st Psalms. We were, and are, mindful of Mary Baker Eddy’s statement about accidents in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony” (p. 424 ).
I find it helpful to address suggestions of harmful influences of any kind with Eddy’s statement of the true and only power: “There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God” (Science and Health, p. 228 ). There is also the reassurance that our prayers for safety bless not only ourselves, but all those in our traveling environment: “And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited” (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210 ). In this case, we’d been praying with a Christian Science practitioner throughout the trip, and we gratefully acknowledged his support.
Having safely avoided colliding with the ladder, we proceeded to the next crossroad, pulled off the highway, and stopped in order to inform the RV driver that he had lost a ladder from his truck several miles back. He inquired after our well-being, and we assured him that we were OK. There was no friction, no sense of condemnation or irritation expressed by either of us, only genuine concern and care. He returned to get the ladder as we continued on our journey, praising and thanking God, divine Love, for His protection.
—John D. Varnes, Whitewater, Wisconsin, US