Article June 26, 2006 Issue

'UNDER HIS WINGS'

BY MATTHEW HOFFMAN

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I planned a business trip to show a potential investor some property my partner and I intended to purchase. Since no direct flights were available, we booked a charter company that regularly flew small, twin-engine planes. This wasn't the first time I'd done this trip in a private plane. Yet, that morning as I prepared to leave, I was suddenly gripped with fear. Images of crashing and being injured filled my mind, and I became extremely agitated.

Fortunately, in the middle of this downward spiral of fearful thoughts, I remembered to pray. I reminded myself of the spiritual fact that I was protected because my thought—my entire being—is eternally safe under God's government. I find the 91st Psalm is always a helpful antidote to fear. So I reversed the fearful images of accident with this psalm's reassuring message that I was dwelling "in the secret place of the most High" (verse 1).

It also occurred to me that I should think about my motives for taking this trip. My purpose was to bless others through expanding my business, and I knew that no human circumstance could hinder or prevent that good motive coming to fruition. As Mary Eddy wrote: "Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action" (Science and Health, p. 454). This prayer lifted my thought, and I felt completely free of the anxiety I'd felt earlier.