Testimony of Healing May 27, 1972 Issue

A radio program, "Helping Somebody in Trouble," in the former...

Irene M. Ebeling

A radio program, "Helping Somebody in Trouble," in the former Mother Church series "The Bible Speaks to You," brought to mind an experience of the protecting power of Love I had some years ago.

In the neighborhood where I lived at the time there was a park separating predominantly black and white neighborhoods, and to get to a certain subway one had to go to the end of the park and walk through the black neighborhood. I did this frequently, without incident of any kind. Then one day when I was part way down the street opposite the park, I heard a crash of breaking glass and saw rocks flying through the air. I instinctively looked for cover and hurried into the vestibule of the house I was passing.

Through the glass door I saw a group of young white boys at one end of the street and a group of black boys at the other, throwing stones at each other, and the poorly aimed ones were breaking the windows of the parked cars. I also noticed that a man stood behind the group of white boys, and I suddenly realized that he was urging them on. My concern about the effect of this on both groups of boys was so great that I instantly found myself outside again, and walking directly to the man, I confronted him. I don't recall just what I said, but I made it clear that instead of encouraging boys to carry on street fights we should be helping them to get along together in peace. The boys were so surprised to hear a woman speak in this way to the man that they stopped their stone throwing and turned to listen. As I finished, I looked to see what the black boys were doing, only to find they had disappeared. The fight was over.

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