Article October 29, 2012 Issue

When I prayed for myself...

Rod Jones—Norristown, Pennsylvania

I’d like to tell about an experience I had many decades ago when I was in Boy Scouts. 

I was very frightened because some of the other boys had been unkind to me, teasing me and calling me names, and we were scheduled to go to an event. It was a one-day activity, and we were to meet at one of the boy’s homes. 

I fussed and tossed and turned the night before—praying every time I woke up. It seemed as if I woke up every hour. It was the first time I really prayed for myself, using the Lord’s Prayer (see Matthew 6:9–13). I’d learned that God is our Father, divine Love. And Love has to be expressed in love (see Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 17). I tried to see the other guys and myself as God’s loved sons. 