Late one night during a recent vacation, my 12-year-old daughter and her friend rushed into my room, very upset. They'd seen a large, frightening insect on the bed in their room and wanted me to remove it immediately.

I went to check out the bug, and there, right before my eyes, was a large feather! We all had a good laugh and went back to bed.

I thought about this experience afterward, and how the things that seem real and terrifying at first aren't so scary after a closer look. And I've learned that this idea of looking more deeply when things seem—or even are—scary can make a big difference.

Of course, it's more than just realizing that a feather isn't an insect. It's following in Jesus' footsteps by looking beneath the surface to the true and perfect spiritual reality of being. This spiritual understanding enabled Jesus to heal the sick, still a violent storm, even raise the dead.

The Bible contains his teachings and they show us how to see sickness and other troubles as material illusions that prayer can remove.

Mary Baker Eddy tells how prayer can accomplish this in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. It's possible to see things that at first seem terrifying—like sin, disease, or any type of distress—as material illusions. We can have the Christly perception that Jesus had, and see as he did, with eyes that can behold what is spiritually true and sustained by God.

The Bible says of God, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil" (Hab.1:13). But this doesn't mean God won't help us when we are in trouble—quite the opposite.

Mrs. Eddy taught that God, good, is the only power and presence in the universe. There is no power apart from His goodness, wisdom, infinite love, and endless caring. We can all learn these truths and apply them in everyday life, based on our study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings.

For example, I have been praying recently for protection from terror attacks. I silently affirm each morning that terror, error, is not real and cannot touch us. Man—and that term includes you, me, and everyone—is the reflection of God's love and care, and can never be anything other than harmonious and loving. Do the news headlines affirm this? No, but even so, good is taking place.

Evidence of this good may come in many forms—a plane in trouble that lands successfully, a terrorist plot uncovered, a natural disaster that is averted or mitigated. I believe the prayers of people of many denominations all over the world support the work of those on the front lines of the war against terror, law enforcement, and other areas of national interest.

"To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science," wrote Mrs. Eddy (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 160). As we lean more and more on God—and nothing can stop us from doing this—we not only have healings and protection for ourselves and our families, but for others we know and even for situations and people far away from us.

This protection may take form as a spiritual intuition not to do something, or it may energize us to take specific actions. We can let God's infinite wisdom inspire our response to events and to free us from fear that would slow our forward progress. We cannot always know intellectually how Spirit is working. But we can continue to pray patiently and to trust in Love's complete care and protection, every step of the way. |css