In 1996, I was hired as custodian for a building that housed a kindergarten. As the person in charge of the school showed me around the plant, he pointed out a few large glass windows on a side wall. He commented that these windows were broken almost weekly. They were made of double glass, but vandals used large stones and were able to break them.

He spoke of these acts of vandalism as inevitable things, against which nothing could be done. I refused to believe that the school should be forced to live with this problem.

Right away, on my first day of work, I found all six windows broken. I alerted the police, and they registered the occurrence and sent a copy to the insurance company. And they, in turn, ordered new glass to be installed—just as was always done. On that day, I told the person in charge of the school that I would pray to put an end to this situation. He answered that the problem had been going on for a long time and he did not believe that prayer could resolve it.

I did not go along with this man's disbelief in the divine power. Many times in my life, I had had clear proofs of the power of God to solve problems that seemed unsolvable.

With the help of concordances, I looked in the Bible and Science and Health, by Mrs. Eddy, for passages relating to the perfection of man. One phrase in Science and Health especially caught my attention: "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive" (p. 463). I reasoned that all of God's creation is composed of spiritual ideas that express good qualities. And that the beloved sons and daughters of God can do only what's good. They can only be good. They can't be overwhelmed by drugs or alcohol. They don't have destructive impulses, but express the order of Principle, God, by whom they were created. Knowing these spiritual facts, I realized, is a powerful force to neutralize evil of any kind.

Over about four weeks, nothing disagreeable happened. And every time the subject came to my thought, I reaffirmed that God's children are perfect because God is perfect.

One afternoon, a gentleman who was passing in front of the school told me that there was a group of suspicious young people behind the building, right where the windows were. He suggested I call the police. As a result of my prayers, I felt great love for those young men. I saw that calling the police would not be a definitive solution. I decided to follow the instructions of Christ Jesus: ". . . as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31). I would want others to consider me a son of God and treat me as such. Therefore, I decided to do the same with those young men. I affirmed that divine Love was present right there with me—and with them. I did not go see who they were, or how many there were, even though I could hear their voices and the noise they were making. I stayed calm and felt at peace. I finished my duties and went home.

The next day, there was a lot of garbage in the lot behind the school, but all six windows were intact. And we never again had problems with vandalism.

The Bible's book of Psalms says: "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered . . . . As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. . .? (68:1,2). The vandalism dispersed like the smoke.

Osvaldo Rosenberger
Zurich, Switzerland