PRAYER AND THE MISSING BUS PASS

BY GRACE GILLIS

I used to scan through Christian Science magazines in order to find examples of the "biggest" healings and usually ignored articles that didn't seem so amazing or cool. Only recently did I learn that sometimes even the smallest challenges in life can turn into the "biggest" of healings.

On a warm summer afternoon, I was getting ready to head home after a shopping trip downtown. But as I was paying for my things in a store, I realized that I was missing my monthly bus pass, which I needed to use to get home. This was also upsetting because I'd spent good money on it. I followed my steps back to every location that I'd gone to, but it was nowhere to be found. After momentarily panicking, I realized that I had to rely on God because the situation was out of my control.

The quote "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" came to me (Science and Health, p. 494). This situation, I realized, could be a perfect opportunity for me to fully understand what the author, Mary Baker Eddy, meant, and also a chance to glorify God in my prayers. After repeating the line from Science and Health to myself a few times, I decided to break it down and really think deeply about each word. The word divine was especially meaningful to me because I'd heard divinity used in reference to things that are sacred, beautiful, gentle, and kind. But I also played with the idea that divinity was sturdy and all-powerful-something in which I could put all my trust. The next word, Love, referred to God. I remembered how I'd seen so many people that day reflecting this Love and being influenced by it. I remembered how I'd had a friendly conversation with a woman in a store and how a car had patiently stopped for me at an intersection. These were examples of God's love in action. As I thought about these things, I felt so grateful for, and full of, that love. But the next part of the sentence was harder to understand at first. How could "every human need" be met when so much injustice was happening all around the world?