"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders" (Isa. 60:18). This Biblical prophecy promises in our present world what many people hope heaven will be, beyond the here and now. Christ Jesus, however, did not teach a tedious wait for a postponed heaven. He affirmed, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20, 21).

This declaration describes a mental state, including the realization that good, or God, is ever present and omnipotent. When Jesus stated (John 10:30), "I and my Father are one," he was not claiming exclusive rights, for he taught us to pray "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matt. 6:9). It is man's relation to the Father, our oneness with the divine Mind, that ensures the possibility of the harmony of heaven in our present experience. We demonstrate this oneness as we learn to think and act from the basis of the one Mind.

God's presence is not seen physically, nor is our own true being something predominantly physical with a touch of spirit for seasoning. The enormously satisfying fact is that our true selfhood is completely spiritual; we discover this fact through selfless expressions of love, intelligence, truth, and meekness. When our thoughts and acts toward others express divine Love's ever-presence, this shields us from violence and fear and neutralizes their supposed power. The power of divine Love, understood and demonstrated in our own experience, reveals heaven right at hand.

In Science and Health Mary Baker Eddy gives this spiritual interpretation of the word heaven: "Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul" (p. 587). Fear has no place in "the atmosphere of Soul." When we understand God's omnipresence to be the presence of divine Mind, we know that God does not leave us when we need Him—has never left us. Fear is an erroneous assumption, a denial of Mind's omnipresence. As we are persuaded that the power of God is always present and animates all of His children always, our lives will become more peaceful, and our tranquillity will be felt by others.

For instance, when I was alone in a small Christian Science Reading Room, a man came in and threatened to rob it. Shadow-boxing toward my face, he asked how much money we had on hand. When I answered "Just a few dollars," he replied that he could smash my face into the wall. Momentarily, fear flowed through me, but it was dispelled as I began to talk to him about God. He stopped shadowboxing and listened.

I showed him the Bible and also Science and Health and let him read in these books passages that affirmed his spiritual being. He stayed for half an hour, asking questions and listening to my assurances of his opportunities for good.

The Reading Room was unrobbed and I was unharmed when he left. My freedom from fear and my desire to know this man as God knew him helped bring out his spirituality and annulled thoughts of robbery and violence. At the door he paused and said that he would like to come back and talk to me again sometime. He thanked me for talking to him as no one had ever talked to him before.

Surely, all who are reading this article desire to rid the world of the destructive thought that not only would motivate robbery but would drive lawless mobs, result in wantonness in children, and in neglect and ineptness among parents. Ignorance, lust, selfishness, sensuality, hatred, and envy can be cast out through the recognition and demonstration of Truth's and Love's nearness and goodness—the kingdom of heaven within.

There is no tremendous mass of evil out there against which we are helpless. That which would promote war is exactly the same argument that would disturb our relationships with our spouses, our children, and our friends. We need not go outside of our own consciousness to heal war and crime. Hurt feelings, envy, greed, a desire to control, revenge, ignorance, cruelty—all phases of a belief in a mind apart from God—not only would disrupt harmony and mislay heaven but would cause sickness and accidents as well. If we allow them to dominate thought, they culminate in war and crime.

But these are canceled as we love unselfishly and consistently, reflecting divine Love. Abiding in Love, Christ Jesus walked through hostile crowds unharmed. The persistent pursuit of a spiritual altitude of thought and life will provide us with the safety he demonstrated.

Divine Love communicates to each one of us ceaselessly, and each can be aware of this fact—sometimes coming as hints of our worthiness, at other times as spiritual insights alerting us to the need for redemption. Often these messages are perceived as distinct thoughts, indicating some specific action to take. Such proddings of spiritual Truth the Bible speaks of as angels, and Science and Health explains that they are spiritual intuitions (see p. 581). These angels are not once-in-a-lifetime visions, but are always here, abundantly available, ready for all who will receive them.

But what is it that disobeys, threatens? That false belief in an intelligence or power apart from God. Christian Science explains that there can be no omnipotence if good and evil are equal in power. God, good, however, is omnipotent, and evil has been proved to be nothing but a belief that good can be absent. It has no intelligence to support it.

When Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, stilled the sea, he did not attempt to alter people or elements physically. It was through the omniscience of divine Mind that he was able to view them correctly. He perceived man as God had created him, whether the person appeared to false belief to be blind, dumb, crippled, or sinning. And through the power of divine Love, the perfection of what God creates became visible in healing.

Wasn't this the same power of Love that protected me and helped the visitor to the Reading Room as well? As I realized his true identity, he responded as one responds to a rose's fragrance—with awakened awareness of his own true nature, the likeness of Soul.

At one point in that experience my faith was tested. At the moment of my greatest fear, I received a phone call from my husband. I was able to convey to him that I was being threatened. He asked, "Shall I call the police?" This was my test. Was my love for God and man great enough to erase doubt? It was. The fear left, and I saw only a visitor to whom I wanted to explain spiritual identity. I was not able to answer "yes" to my husband's question.

What a triumph over hostility and fear! The effects of fear were annulled by the understanding of man's spiritual identity. Science and Health says, "Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power" (P. 192).

I do not know what my visitor learned, but I know I demonstrated for myself that unless we believe in it, evil has no abiding place. I had seen this man included in God's love and was keenly aware that evil could not be an element in my thoughts or outside my thoughts. Thus heaven, "government by divine Principle," prevailed.

Doesn't this show that when we understand, even partially, the perfection of God's creation, we begin to experience safety and harmony. Living according to the law of divine Love is a practical answer to hate and aggression, and by degrees reveals the harmony of heaven in our present experience.