"Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). When Jesus said this to his opponents, he was referring to the ever-presence of the Christ, which he exemplified. The people evidently thought he was referring to his human selfhood, for the record continues, "Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

How did Jesus escape from the angry crowd? Where and how did he hide himself? Christian Science reveals that it was in the Christ, his spiritual selfhood, that he found safety: his consciousness of man's unity with divine Mind protected him. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 36 of "No and Yes": "The real Christ was unconscious of matter, of sin, disease, and death, and was conscious only of God, of good, of eternal Life, and harmony. Hence the human Jesus had a resort to his higher self and relation to the Father, and there could find rest from unreal trials in the conscious reality and royalty of his being,—holding the mortal as unreal, and the divine as real. It was this retreat from material to spiritual selfhood which recuperated him for triumph over sin, sickness, and death."

Everyone then can find safety in proportion to his recognition that the Christ, the spiritual idea of sonship, is at hand within one's own consciousness.

The Bible contains numerous examples of direction and protection of individuals when they abide in the Christ. To illustrate: in the lions' den Daniel must have turned resolutely away from material sense testimony and trusted God.

In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy says (p. 514): "Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible."

Protected by the Christ in his consciousness, Daniel could not possibly accept suggestions of resentment and indignation toward his persecutors or self-pity for himself. He therefore did not condemn King Darius for signing the infamous decree, "Whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions" (Dan. 6:7). Instead he comforted the king with this assurance: "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me." Daniel's true innocence, or Christly thinking, provided his complete security.

All of us are in reality the children of God, carefully watched over and guarded by Him. But to demonstrate this truth, we must refuse to accept the suggestions of material sense as true and hold to the indestructible ideas of divine Mind. Thus we claim our true selfhood and abide in the secret place of spiritual being. This state of thought brings protection, guidance, and healing to our experience.

A Christian Scientist found one morning that she could not walk or even stand. Her ankles were painful and swollen, and this condition seemed to be creeping over the rest of her body. A Christian Science practitioner was asked for help and spiritual guidance. She explained that one thing was essential, namely that moment by moment the patient must hide herself in the Christ and thus gain the spiritual sense of being. The practitioner further explained that in such spiritual thinking one is safe from accepting erroneous suggestions, with the accompanying mental pictures, of oneself and of others.

The patient, with the aid of the Concordances to Mrs. Eddy's writings, studied all the references to Christ, Truth, thus acquainting herself with God and with man's real being. The desire for physical healing yielded to the holy desire for Truth as moment by moment she spiritualized her consciousness by questioning: Is this thought spiritual and eternal? Does it represent the Christ?

The next morning, when a member of her family came to carry her into the next room, this thought from the Bible flooded her consciousness, "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). Much to the astonishment of the relative, she stood, leaned on his arm, and walked with him into the next room. She saw clearly that divine Mind, God, is ever present and that Christly thoughts are also ever present. She began to understand that because she was the immediate object of God's protection and love, she was not bound in any way to disease and discord. In the awareness of God's power and presence, she was safe. Very shortly she telephoned the practitioner to report that she was healed.

Man is always safe in the Christ. Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p.152): "Thus founded upon the rock of Christ, when storm and tempest beat against this sure foundation, you, safely sheltered in the strong tower of hope, faith, and Love, are God's nestlings; and He will hide you in His feathers till the storm has passed. Into His haven of Soul there enters no element of earth to cast out angels, to silence the right intuition which guides you safely home."

With one's complete trust in God, divine Mind, and in His Christ, one is prepared to manifest courage, calmness, faith, and strength, regardless of what confronts him. One commands the situation when he hides himself in the Christ.