Article February 18, 2008 Issue

A best friend IN GOD

BY ANNE-FRANÇOISE BOUFFÉ

One summer, during the early years of my life as a college student, I went abroad to live in England for two months. I was very happy to have the opportunity to travel, but at the beginning of my stay there I found it difficult to be separated from the affection and guidance of my family and friends who were back in France. And it was not easy to make decisions on my own. At the time, e-mails and cellphones that now help to lessen distances did not exist.

One evening, when I felt especially alone, I turned to God with all my heart for comfort. My prayer was simple and short. It consisted of acknowledging that God, infinite Love, wants only what's good for me and for each one of His children, and He gives us only good. I realized that God, who is infinite and always present, does not know want or loneliness, and that I as His child, His complete manifestation, created in His likeness, could therefore not know them either.

The answer to my prayer was almost immediate. I suddenly felt a great peace. I thought I was alone in my apartment, which I shared with three young women whom I hardly knew. But suddenly there was a knock on my door, and one of them came in to ask if I wanted to have dinner with her. That marked the end of my feelings of loneliness for the rest of the time I spent in England. This healing showed me how effective is even an instant of spiritual awareness of God's goodness and presence.