Article April 14, 2003 Issue

Calm during the storm

By Tony Lobl—London, England

The shrieking winds and gray, foreboding skies painted a vivid and accurate picture of my inner mental turmoil that stormy winter day. I no longer recall the issues that were distressing me, but I remember the moment when the gale howled loudest and my inner landscape got gloomiest.

At that moment, a simple idea sneaked into thought and out-whispered the physical and mental storms clamoring for attention. It was this: that I could claim my peace in the midst of the storm. I didn't need to wait until the winds died away to affirm the presence of peace. I didn't need to wait until the emotional turmoil settled down to accept the actuality of peace.

Despite the evidences of evil—and the atmospherics that were playing a fittingly dark tune outside—I intuitively felt that what Christian Science terms animal magnetism was already nothing. That is, all that opposes or contrasts with or distracts from God, who is infinite good, is without true existence or influence. This thought brought complete inner stillness before anything else had changed.

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