Article June 19, 1971 Issue

Support for Those in Danger

HELEN A. DEL NEGRO

When a loved one is about to be drafted into the armed services, to be shipped overseas, to go into combat, how do we pray? Do we pray that he be protected from harm but really mean that he be kept from going through the experience? Do we pray to see him as always in his right place but try to decide, ourselves, exactly where that place should be? Do we pray for safety but believe that God's power can be localized and that someone is safer in one place than in another? If we are praying this way, we are basing our prayers on human will rather than on the divine.

May it not be that our prayers are at times willful because we're afraid to trust God? Do we cover up this fear by saying we're just not sure we have enough understanding to make a scientific demonstration?

Human will based on fear can never bless, because it stems from the belief that there is a mortal sense of self that lives, enjoys, suffers, can be endangered and eventually destroyed. In Christian Science this way of thinking is termed false belief. Man, in truth, is the image and likeness of his creator. Divine Life is the creator of man and the universe. Our real selfhood, then, is spiritual, indestructible, and inseparable from the Life which is God. The activity of the real man is forever governed by the divine will. He is eternally located in Love, established by Principle, and safe in Soul.

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The Art of Listening
June 19, 1971
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