How I prayed

Have you ever had an argument with your dad? I have.

One day I was helping my dad paint the outside of our new house, and I accidentally painted in the wrong place. Well, my dad thought I did it on purpose. He got really mad and sent me to my room. In my room I prayed and knew that error or bad thoughts couldn't take over. As I prayed to God I knew that God's child could never be mad but could only reflect God's goodness and peace of mind. All that night, until I went to bed, I thought about God and His reflection, which included my dad and me. The next day my dad was really happy. I thanked God for making my dad happy.

And from then on I have been even more careful when I do a job for him.

Christian McCormick

God is with me

Are we rich? Yes. Are we rich with money? No— we are rich in love. God provides us with loving thoughts.

That's a good thought because God is caring for us and He is our All, our Father and Mother. We are peaceful, like God, because we are the reflection of God, like a reflection in clear, still water.

There is no need for war, because we're all God's reflection and we're all His children. We can make our lives much happier if we go to church, and learn to understand God, not just maybe gamble or play games all day Sundays.

We can listen to God and believe in Him. It's not true when we seem not to feel well, because God only knows our goodness and health. God only knows us as His image and likeness. I thought about this once when I was going on a trip and my stomach started to hurt. I didn't tell my mother, but I knew that God was with me and that He would never go away. There just wasn't any place for error. God and His goodness are always present. And I was healed.

Sarah J. Bishop

Getting rid of fear

The Sentinel has helped me through a great many problems. One Sentinel helped me after I had read a ghost story.

Of course, I don't believe in ghosts, but I just couldn't seem to stop thinking about the ghost story. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer. I told my mom, and she got a Sentinel. I read the first editorial, and it vanished (the fear, not the Sentinel). It had a Bible verse in it that said, "There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance." ^{I Cor. 13:7 (The New English Bible), quoted in the Christian Science Sentinel, June 3, 1985, p. 927. In the King James Version this verse reads: "[Charity] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."} That gave me a lot of faith to know that there could be no mistake about God's thoughts to us. When I finished reading that, I thought of the definition of angels in Science and Health. Mrs. Eddy says angels are "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality." ^{Science and Health, p. 581.}

I was thinking very deeply about the good thoughts, and when I was through I fell right asleep. I'm grateful for the Sentinel, and that I have Christian Science to use anywhere, anytime.

Teri D. Bilsborrow

Healing in Sunday School

I had not been feeling good, and I had been getting mad at my brother. But this morning in Christian Science Sunday School we sang the hymn "Brood o'er us." ^{See Christian Science Hymnal, No. 30.} When I was singing I thought about love, and it explained to me that God did not make any of His children sick or bad. And so that meant to me that I really could not be sick and nobody else could either. Where Mrs. Eddy says, "Brood o'er us with Thy shelt'ring wing" and "Love alone is Life" I thought that meant that I could not get mad at my brother or anyone else. After church I felt just fine, and I wasn't so mad at my brother.

Whitney Anne Gantt

Love is stronger than hate

One day at school, my friends and I were out playing football during recess. Some children started to fight. I said to one of the boys, "Quit it," because he was shoving me. He angrily said, "Make me!" I didn't want to hurt him or get in trouble. Then I said, "Quit punching me," and my friends held him back.

As we walked into school he kept threatening to kill me. The teacher came and I told her the story. She said she would talk to him the next morning. I was really worried about it because he has beat up other kids before

When my mom picked me up after school I told her. We decided praying could heal my fear. My mom quoted Science and Health: "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." ^{Science and Health, p. 571.} I had to look up panoply in the dictionary. It means "a full suit of armor" and "something forming a protective covering." My mom said that divine ideas are stronger than fear or hate.

Then I started to understand better that a hateful thought can't hurt me, because God is my protector. In the Bible, also, it says, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." ^{Ps. 56:3.}

My mom and I talked until I realized that maybe that boy was mean because no one had ever recognized he was really God's child or been kind to him. Nobody at school liked him.

When I thought about how Christ Jesus loved everyone, even the people that tried to kill him, I wanted to try to love too. I wasn't afraid anymore, and I chose to heal the situation, not just to ignore this boy. I waited for God to give me the opportunity.

The next day at lunchtime I had my weekly job to carry the lunches downstairs. There were too many for me to carry, so I picked the boy that was being mean to me to help. When I handed him a tray, I asked him if he was still angry. He gave me a big smile and said "No." I felt so good when he smiled at me, and I told my mom as soon as she picked me up.

Mom smiled. "That's good," she said. "You know Christ Jesus wanted his disciples to express love in every way and even to love enemies so they can become friends. That's what you did."

A disciple is someone who tries to live the way Jesus lived. That includes forgiving—trusting God and expressing love in the face of hate. I was so happy and grateful to God that I went to our Christian Science church and gave a testimony. One of the church members said my testimony helped her with a problem she was having. I felt very good. Now I understand why my mom goes to church every Wednesday.

Heath Norton

Editors' Note:

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." Psalms 4:8

Because God is Love, and we really are His children, it's possible to live in peace, and not to be afraid, and to feel well. The young people writing in this Sentinel issue certainly have felt this. They've prayed, and felt God's love and healing power. Their parents also are used to feeling God's care and presence. Teri's mom said sometimes in their family, "We count the ways we're grateful, or what we've done specially to be more loving or kind, or the ways that show us God is right where we are. We talked about Love being the 'gentle presence' Mrs. Eddy describes in her hymn ^{See Hymnal, No. 207.} —the only presence—always holding us close and filling all space."

Whitney's mom wrote to say their family really expects healing will take place in church and Sunday School. "After we got home, Whitney spent an hour writing her article. It was at this time that I realized the message from Mrs. Eddy's hymn 'Love,' which the Sunday School pupils sang, had brought the healing."

When Heath's mom wrote to verify his article, she shared this with us: "Just before Heath's experience an eleven-year-old had killed a store owner. There was a great deal of fear in the community. We prayed for ourselves and the community, and these ideas that Mrs. Eddy gives in Miscellaneous Writings were a help: 'Divine Love is our hope, strength, and shield. We have nothing to fear when Love is at the helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and in heaven.'" ^{Mis., p. 113.}

Families and neighbors and friends don't always have an easy time keeping the peace. Sometimes it's as hard for parents as for children not to be angry or afraid. That's why it's so important to pray and know, together, that we can trust God and His love to show us that we really are pure, and loving, and whole. As Sarah said, "We're all God's reflection."