UPFORNT October 31, 2005 Issue

A more formidable you

SUZANNE SMEDLEY, STAFF EDITOR

In the film Crash, one of many I saw this summer, there's tender scene between a father and his young daughter, who live in a gritty, violent area of the city, where bullets from gang members ricochet off homes, and even go through the windows of children's bedrooms. Afraid to go to sleep, the daughter is told by her father that he has a special, invisible cape on his back that protects him from harm. As he sits on her bed beside her, he pretends to gently place it around her little frame.

Wouldn't we all like to have such an invisible cape so we could feel impervious to the aggressive personal and global dangers we face today? Even though individuals and nations spend massive amounts of money to prevent or wipe out these threats, people still feel vulnerable—unable to defend themselves.

But not Daniel Biwila. When I read his account of how he prayed when a gun was pointed at his head (see p. 12), I thought of this passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, one my father read to me once when I was in tough circumstances. You could say, it served as my invisible cape: "The understanding of his spiritual individuality makes man more real, more formidable in truth, and enables him to conquer sin, disease, and death" (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 317).

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