PRAYER FOR OUR NEIGHBORS IN MEXICO

A PRICELESS GIFT that comes from the study of Christian Science is realizing how natural and effective it is to pray for the well-being of our global community. A challenging news report is simply a "red-flag" alert to turn confidently to God in prayer—and to listen. This has been a daily pattern of mine for years.

Sometimes the answers I receive come as individual practical steps to take. Other times it is a reminder to trust that God is in control, that the government of the universe, including man, is under His constant care. This government is based on the law of unlimited good.

Recently, however, I found I was making a conscious decision to ignore news stories coming out of Mexico about drug cartels, the spreading violent crime and related aggressive exploitation of innocent people. These reports were overwhelming to me, and it seemed impossible to think beyond them. I felt paralyzed and unable to turn to God, even though that is what I love to do.

Then I began to feel anxious and fearful. Not because I felt a direct danger for myself or my community, but because ignoring or giving in was so foreign to my usual response to problems. If I felt this way, I wondered how our neighbors in Mexico were feeling. Were they also feeling fearful and separated from God's protection? I wanted to be a good Samaritan of hope, but how?

One evening, I suddenly—and gratefully—remembered a Bible verse I'd read in that week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, in which Christ Jesus used the analogy of a shepherd caring for his sheep to show his followers his tender care for them: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:27, 28 ).

It was clear that I had been influenced by the news stories to believe that evil is more powerful than good. In turn I was feeling separated from God, from the safety of His love and protection.

As I prayed with this message in the Bible Lesson, I felt the healing influence of the Christ, which always lifts us above the influence of human reports. My thought changed. I could again see that God is the only power; therefore, it is impossible for anything to separate me from Him.

At once it also became obvious to me that what is true for one is true for everyone, including the people of Mexico—and those in trouble spots all over the planet: "They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand"—out of the hand of Christ, the presence of God which is always with us.

The Bible makes clear that God created man, meaning both men and women, in His likeness with everything good, complete, and perfect (see Gen. 1:31). This perfect likeness is who each of us truly is—including all people. Each of us is loved and cared for by God, never tempted by dishonesty or evil.

Proving this to be the spiritual fact in our human circumstances can sometimes take a significant commitment to prayer. We're helped by remembering, even when things look hopeless, that God is all-power. Therefore, the opposite of God, called evil or error, is powerless.

All these thoughts informed and inspired my prayers about Mexico. Not long after that, I saw a report in The Christian Science Monitor (August 30, 2010) that a suspected major drug dealer was arrested there. I'm not claiming credit for the arrest, but I feel it shows that our individual prayers can support right outcomes.

Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health: ". . . those who discern Christian Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in the ejection of error. They will maintain law and order, and cheerfully await the certainty of ultimate perfection" (p. 97 ). That passage doesn't mention individual criminals, but rather impersonal "crime." In this case, the crime is illegal supply and demand—the desire and demand for illegal drugs, illegally supplied. To discern is to recognize, and Christian Science enables one to recognize and apply spiritual facts about God and man that bring harmony to any form of human discord, including crime.

When we acknowledge that God's government is the only true government, and that He is supreme over all nations and peoples, we understand more clearly that "with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27 ). Icss