Protected by the ‘panoply of Love’

About a year ago, I had an experience that taught me profound lessons about divine Love, and how it plays a role in protecting our liberty and our individual rights.

While taking part in organizing an event at work, I had to deal with a colleague who harassed the women in our group by making unwelcome and sometimes sexually suggestive comments. The situation was very unpleasant. All my female colleagues avoided contact with this man as much as they could, which was totally understandable.

That day I had to spend an entire afternoon in the company of only this colleague. At first, the situation was very tense. He was verbally aggressive, and admitted he couldn’t control himself. His behavior made me feel completely defenseless. Many questions shuffled through my thought: “What should I do? Come up with an excuse and go home? Argue with my colleague? Call the police if things get worse?”

But then a strong intuition caused me to stop everything I was doing for a few moments and listen to divine Love’s “still small voice” (I Kings 19:12 ), which I had heard in other instances in my life. This “inaudible voice of Truth” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 559 ) is often the spiritual inspiration we feel when we prayerfully lift our thought to God. And as I listened, this familiar statement by Mrs. Eddy came strongly to mind: “Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you” (Science and Health, p. 571 ).

A panoply is a protective covering, a full suit of armor made of resistant materials that make it impenetrable. But it was the word Love that I noticed this time in that statement from Science and Health. I learned when I was introduced to Christian Science that Love, with a capital L, is a synonym for God. This statement reminded me that divine Love is my real armor, or protection, in every circumstance. And so, I put on “Love’s armor.” I mentally turned off what my colleague was saying and stopped positioning us in two different roles—the oppressor (him) and the oppressed (me)—and started to see both of us as reflecting the one, divine Love.

With this realization, my thought was flooded with compassion for my colleague, and I felt calm and safe.

As I silently prayed in that short space of time, I felt I could truly see my colleague’s God-given purity and innocence. It became immediately clear to me that these qualities comprise our true, spiritual identity from God, Spirit, and they are the only attraction for us. Mrs. Eddy says, “There is but one real attraction, that of Spirit” (Science and Health, p. 102 ). Maintaining this spiritual perspective of one another is what protects us from aggressive and harmful thoughts, such as hatred and sensuality.

I saw that this panoply of Love was not only protecting me, but it was also acting as a shield for my colleague, preventing us both from thinking, saying, doing anything unkind or offensive—anything in contradiction to our God-given innocence, purity, and spirituality. And as I thought more about this spiritual panoply, I realized that it doesn’t separate us from each other. It unites us. It is the bond of compassion, pure affection, goodness, and harmony that joins us together as children of God.

With this realization, my thought was flooded with compassion for my colleague, and I felt calm and safe.

A few minutes passed, and my colleague became completely silent. This silence lasted for almost an hour. During this time, we focused on our individual tasks. When we resumed talking to each other, his behavior was entirely transformed. His voice was calm, and the things he said were respectful. He started to tell me how much he missed a close relative who had passed away a few years earlier. We talked more about this, and I shared a few comforting ideas with him.

Since that afternoon, I have never again witnessed or heard about a recurrence of inappropriate behavior from this man. Shortly after this incident, I left the institution where we were both associated. But I have seen this man at various events, and his demeanor has always been peaceful and respectful. We talk like friends, and I feel comfortable around him.

What a tender and profound lesson this was to me. May we all include the world in the “panoply of Love” in our prayers, and experience the protection and freedom that come from it.