Testimony of Healing October 6, 1986 Issue

Today there is often talk of harassment, muggings, rape

Karen Goodspeed

Today there is often talk of harassment, muggings, rape. Dwelling on such occurrences, I could have easily scared myself out of the opportunity to work as a student intern in a major city. However, Christian Science teaches safety through God, and this was the ground on which I planted myself. "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts" writes Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health (p. 261). The Bible says (Ps. 46: 1), "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

My internship turned out to be a real blessing, but it was not without its challenges. One evening, at dusk, I was accosted by a young man. He came up behind me and reached for my purse with one hand. His other hand held a small pistol, which he put to my head. His face was covered with a ski mask. I let my purse be tugged off my shoulder. My heart was pounding twice its normal speed, but my thoughts immediately turned to God. My voice was calm when I spoke, "You don't need to do this." Other thoughts and spiritual truths began to come to me then, such as this from Science and Health (p. 471): "Man is, and forever has been, God's reflection. God is infinite, therefore ever present, and there is no other power nor presence."

"You have a lot of potential," I told the young man. By then I was seeing him less as a threat and more as he really was—as God's man, as entirely spiritual. Suddenly in a panicked voice the young man threatened to shoot me. But I felt so deeply the truth of man's Godlike nature that I had no fear.

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