Article July 29, 1996 Issue

When a crisis threatens ...

Rita Trapanese Vaglini

Sometimes we have to face a sudden problem that requires an immediate solution, a problem that catches us unprepared, whether because of the emergency it creates or because its nature is foreign to our thoughts or experience. This is what happened to me one summer when I was at the seacoast not far from home.

At lunchtime, on a sweltering day with very strong winds, I saw a swirl of smoke rising in the distance behind a hill. Before we finished our lunch, the fire had drawn near our village. I needed to pray—and fast—but I didn't know where to start because this situation was completely foreign to me!

I yearned to recognize God's angels, which, as I had learned while in Sunday School, are loving, wise thoughts from God to man. As we bring our thought into harmony with the one Mind—that is, as we turn away from fear, anger, or other unspiritual elements and put our trust in God—we always receive the inspiration that brings light. And thus I was led to read Mary Baker Eddy's spiritual insights regarding fire as she gives them in Science and Health: "Fear; remorse; lust; hatred; destruction; affliction purifying and elevating man" (p. 586).

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