Article July 31, 2000 Issue

When my father turned me over to our Father

How I faced down the threat of poverty

By Shirley Files Schwaller

My Father Sat at my kitchen table, and as he spoke, a tear ran down his cheek. "If I help you now, I will not be helping you at all," he said. I was in dire straits. And I was scared. I was a young mother, whose husband had recently left. How would I support myself and my two children?

Yet, as I looked at my father, I felt his deep love. He was turning me over to our Father-Mother, God. Rather than just lean on a human parent, I needed to learn that I was tenderly cared for by divine Love. And I knew by the tears in his eyes that releasing me, even to God, was hard for him to do.

He let me know that he was always available to talk and to pray with me about this situation. Far from feeling that he was deserting me, I knew that he was following his deepest sense of love in letting loose and letting God guide our small family. I realized that I needed to look to God for answers, for the inspired ideas that would move us toward a God-centered life. I earnestly studied the Bible and Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy, a book that was helping me understand my unbroken relationship to God and was calming my fears of poverty.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

LOOKING FOR GOD IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES