How does one cope with violence? Can it really be healed?

Recently, Doris S. LaCue shared with the Editors how she felt protected and was able to help others during the rioting that took place in the Miami, Florida, area last May. She begins by recalling an earlier time of violence and unrest.

Sentinel: What happened to you in 1969?
Mrs. LaCue: A severe riot almost put an end to the clothing store my husband and I owned. When I arrived to open up one morning, I discovered the whole front of the store had been destroyed. Looters had taken everything of value, leaving behind smashed showcases and other debris. Outside there was an angry mob calling me names. I felt helpless. All I could do was stand there and cry.
Sentinel: Were you a Christian Scientist then?
Mrs. LaCue: No. I knew nothing of man's true spiritual identity—who I really was and where I'd really come from. I found myself struggling with resentment, anger, bitter criticism. I just didn't know how to handle these emotions. And what hurt most was that the damage had been inflicted by my own people. That was very difficult to understand.
Sentinel: Where did you go from there?
Mrs. LaCue: Well, my husband and I refused to let this keep us down. The store was rebuilt and, one month later, reopened. In fact, some of our customers came in wearing the clothes they'd taken from us during the looting! But even though we were able to continue in business until we decided to close a few years later, my basic questions about the nature of God and man remained unanswered.
Sentinel: Had you been actively seeking a better understanding of God?
Mrs. LaCue: Oh, yes. I'd been going from church to church trying to find a religion that would satisfy my spiritual hunger. I held the view that if I couldn't prove something, I couldn't believe in it.
Sentinel: When did Christian Science come into your life?
Mrs. LaCue: In 1972 someone gave me a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. With the book came an invitation to attend a local branch Church of Christ, Scientist. So I went the following Sunday. What a visit! When I walked through the front door, nobody had to tell me I was loved, I could feel it! I knew I'd found what I'd been searching for, and I thought, "Where have these people been all my life?" I've never stopped going back. Each time that same love is there to greet me, and it continues to strengthen and support me.
Sentinel: Can you tell us specifically how this love has strengthened and supported you?
Mrs. LaCue: Last May, when there was rioting in Miami, I wondered what I could do. How could I help? I was inspired by verses in Ecclesiastes which mention a little city under siege that was saved by one wise man (see 9:14,15). So I got out the Concordances to the Bible and to Mrs. Eddy's writings and researched the words "city" and "war." A passage from Science and Health stayed with me throughout that period (p. 467): "It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established."