Safer than a suit of armor

The Christian Science Monitor

Are you afraid of violence? Are you tempted to carry a weapon to school in order to feel safe? Do you feel unprotected unless your parents are around?

I found out one day that you don't need weapons or a parent near in order to find safety and protection. I learned that God is always with us, and He protects us. I found this out because on that day something happened to me that I had always hoped wouldn't happen. I was alone in the park when a gang came in. They were shouting and acting rowdily, and they were heading in my direction. I was scared.

I sat still, and I began to pray, as I had been learning to do through reading the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings. I remembered something that Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health. Speaking of God as divine Love, Mrs. Eddy writes, "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you" (p. 571). At that time I didn't know what a panoply was. I later learned that it is a full suit of armor. At that point, however, I could tell from the rest of the sentence that it was some kind of protective covering—something I could be dressed in like clothes. And I thought, "If a panoply is of divine Love, which is ever present, then I can know that I am safely clothed in it right now, and I am out of reach of anybody's hatred." I could feel my fear lessen as I became more and more sure that there could be no gap in God's protecting power.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

Compassion and healing