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Prayers for Colorado
Over the last few months, many states surrounding the Rocky Mountains have been affected by dry conditions, heat, and forest fires. A large blaze near Colorado Springs has displaced tens of thousands of people and burned homes along the city’s outskirts. I have been living in Colorado for the past few months, and these fires are a huge concern for local communities.
After I heard of the Colorado fire, it became quite clear to me that I needed to make myself a witness to God’s all-encompassing good, instead of being taken in by fear of danger. As a Christian Scientist, I knew the claim to be faced was that we can be endangered by our environment, or that men and women can be without God.
As I prayed, I started with the fact that God is all good; He is “Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 587). God maintains the harmony and perfection of His creation. If God is All, what can exist outside of His command? Not a single thing.
That doesn’t mean that the wildfire can be ignored, but it does mean that destruction can’t come from or be sanctioned by God, since there can be no combustible elements in divine Love. Love governs and does not divide, irritate, or corrupt. Matter does not possess any power to disrupt because it is not substance.
While praying further, I decided to open up Science and Health and see what I could find to help me think clearly. I opened to the chapter titled “Genesis,” where I read: “Immortal and divine Mind presents the idea of God: first, in light; second, in reflection; third, in spiritual and immortal forms of beauty and goodness. But this Mind creates no element nor symbol of discord and decay. God creates neither erring thought, mortal life, mutable truth, nor variable love” (p. 503).
We can each declare with certainty that God did not create anything that would at some point need to be destroyed, or would have the power to destroy something else. On the contrary, every element of His creation is joyful, loving, purifying, nourishing, abundant, and permanent. Chaos and disorder are not qualities of God; therefore, they cannot tell the real story of our experience. We can expect to see this fact expressed in the preservation of homes and lives, in creative and tireless problem-solving from firefighters and rescue workers, and in restoration and comfort for those affected.
Because God is the cause, and we are the effect, only goodness exists and is active at this moment; no harm can come from or to God’s attributes. In the form of wildfire, we see a suggestion that there can be another idea or being that acts separately from God. But as we reject this fear that man is without God, or lacks His protection, we’ll recognize that Love is truly in control and that God’s children cannot be surrounded by evil.
As I follow news of the fire, I’ll continue to recognize that Love flourishes and maintains the harmony of its creation. Even as I write this, the news indicates that the fire’s spread has significantly diminished, and we’ve just had heavy rainfall in the valley where I live. We all have the opportunity to rejoice that we are witnesses to God’s work and the abundance of His perfect protection
–Lila Morse, Westcliffe, Colorado, US