"I am at peace with my life and my work. I don't think I have any enemies." These are simple, yet profound, words of wisdom on the subject of dealing with fear. They're the words of Oseola McCarty, as she approaches her ninetieth year. You've probably heard of her. She's the washerwoman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who has lived alone for the past three decades and in 1995 donated $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi for a scholarship fund. That money came entirely from the very modest income she earned taking in laundry over the years, carefully putting aside a few dollars into savings whenever she could.

Oseola McCarty has since received numerous humanitarian awards for her unselfishness. She holds an honorary degree from Harvard University, even though her formal schooling ended when she was only eight. No other African American has had his or her portrait hanging on the walls of the University of Southern Mississippi until now.

For Ms. McCarty, who has lived alone for so many of her years, life has taken a remarkable turn, but her simple approach to life, her humility and unselfishness, her deep faith in God, remain constant. One newspaper account notes that people "come to see her just because they want to be close to someone good." The report quotes an official at the University of Southern Mississippi: "When you're around her, you just feel better. You feel cleaner." The newspaper goes on to relate what another worker from the university believes is the reason that "so many people are drawn to McCarty. They share in what everyone wants but so few have." What is it? One word from the university worker sums it up: "'Peace.'"

How can we know such a solid, tangible peace in our own lives? Oseola McCarty's example certainly teaches a great deal. When humility means more to us than an egotistical pride in whatever station of life we may have attained, peace is there. When heartfelt unselfishness means more to us than self-centered pursuits, peace is there. When trusting in God means more to us than trusting in anything else, peace is there.

Of course, we can't simply manufacture these things out of thin air—that genuine humility, unselfishness, trust in God—and then magically possess peace. We may have to work at it. We might have to practice being unselfish, for example, and see what it feels like. But there are some basic things we can give attention to that many people have found really do bring peace to their lives.

One of these things is prayer. And when we join our prayer with a search in the Bible for God's messages of peace, we make some wonderful discoveries. We learn what it means to have a relationship with God as His own child. We discover that we are created in His likeness, and that this likeness—the expression and reflection of God—is completely spiritual because God is pure, divine Spirit. The very nature of God includes all that is good; it includes spiritual power and joy and grace and, yes, peace. Mary Baker Eddy, who established this magazine in 1898, once wrote: "God is glorified in His reflection of peace, love, joy" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 355).

Peace is an attribute of God, and in creating each of us, God established His peace as part of our actual being. That peace is still ours. It hasn't been lost or broken or abused. God's peace is forever. It glorifies Him—forever.

Now, it may be that what we've come up against in this world would argue that our lives are sometimes anything but peaceful. Perhaps circumstances have convinced us that life is an awful mess. Enemies such as despair, confusion, disappointment, frustration, fear, anxiety, are constantly on the attack. This is when prayer is so vital, because in the quiet turning of thought to God, we catch the light of truth that tells us a different story. The divine light actually shows us the reality that we are children of God and that His peace is ours. We see that life is not a frustrating mess but is graciously ordered and cared for by God. This makes us humble. It puts us on our knees in love for God and in gratitude for His tender mercies. It also shows us that our own nature really is unselfish because God's goodness is naturally shared with every one of His children. After all, if you and I are the child of God, isn't that also true of our neighbor? And our neighbor deserves to realize the same good, the same joy, the same peace, that God is revealing to us.

The prayer that rejoices in the truth of who we are as God's spiritual expression is also the prayer that builds our trust in Him. It shows us that God's creation is governed by divine laws, not by whim or chance, and that these laws are absolutely reliable. God's laws turn despair into hope, confusion into conviction, fear into spiritual courage and love. Fear can't exist in love; there are no enemies in real love.

The law of God is peace. And God's law establishes solid peace in our hearts and in our lives, and keeps it there. A beautiful promise from the Bible (Ps. 119:165) tells us: "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Nothing.

I've never met Oseola McCarty, but I'm sure I will not soon forget her. What a wonderful, profoundly simple, and powerful example: "I am at peace with my life and my work. I don't think I have any enemies."

William E. Moody