Early in my study of Christian Science, one of the Readers at the local Church of Christ, Scientist, I’d begun attending invited me to join his family for a spring Sunday afternoon picnic at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

We had a delightful lunch, and then returned to his car to find a window smashed and his briefcase gone. After some initial disappointment was voiced, I noticed everyone got very quiet, and I recognized they must be praying.

This was new for me—praying in a crisis. Not being experienced at prayer, I just turned to God and listened. After a minute, mostly spent trying to look prayerful like everyone else, the idea came clearly to me to walk down the sidewalk by a chain-link fence that ran along a field. So I did.

After about two city blocks, the fence changed direction, and there was a small opening that led into woods. Almost like a voice speaking to me, I heard, “Go in.” I followed a winding path with a dirt ridge on my left until I heard, “Go up the ridge.” 

At the top I looked around, and there on the other side, about eight feet down, was my friend’s briefcase. The contents, including the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, that he’d read from in church that morning, were strewn about the dirt. If I hadn’t turned off the path and climbed the ridge right at that point, I would not have seen that area.

I now know that listening to God is a way to pray.

I was amazed—not only that I’d found the briefcase, but also that there had been such clear direction, clear spiritual intuition, leading me to it. I ran back to the group with the good news. They followed me back into the woods and asked how I’d known to make those turns and go up the ridge. As we cleaned off the items (nothing was actually missing), I found myself somewhat casually saying that God, divine Mind, told me which way to walk. 

But that was no casual moment for me. It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life! Because I had heard and been directly guided by the all-knowing Mind, God.

A few weeks earlier, I had read in the Bible: “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21). Well, that promise from the Word of God took on a living reality that I hadn’t thought possible.

Even though it was a breezy ride home with that broken window, the incident didn’t ruin the afternoon, but instead turned us all to God and became an unforgettable example of His omniscience.

I now know that listening to God is a way to pray. The Gospels record Jesus’ response to his disciples when they asked him how to pray (see Matthew 6:6). He talks of going into a private space, closing the door, and being alone with God in prayer. 

On page 15 of Science and Health, near the end of the chapter called “Prayer,” Mrs. Eddy writes about Jesus’ instructions: “To enter into the heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent, that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which destroys all error.” 

Having “audience” with God means being in a receptive, listening mode. Sometimes that can be a challenge, when our thoughts and fears are very loud. Then an extra effort is needed to shut the door on them, so to speak, and reaffirm our natural desire to hear only what God is communicating.

There’s no situation in which we can’t listen to God. When I need wisdom and intelligence, I turn to God’s unlimited resources of those qualities. I’ve received creative ideas and solutions to problems that seemed intractable. And I’m learning to listen more to Mind than to rely on human memory—whether it’s to know some vital information or even remember an acquaintance’s name. 

Divine Mind doesn’t need to remember; God simply knows all reality all the time. We can listen directly to Mind for the answer to whatever we need to know. 

Infinite Mind is the only Mind. I reflect that Mind—and so do you. When I’m afraid, I strive to realize that there is nothing unknown to omniscient Mind. There is no “fear of the unknown” in Mind. God knows all that exists and that all is good, because He’s the only creator and has created all as good, like Him. So there is actually nothing to fear.

It’s hard to express the magnitude of that last realization. The spiritual understanding that nothing really exists to be afraid of is one of the keys to all healing. I try to continually be conscious of that deeply comforting fact. 

Yes, there are still times when a situation seems frightening to me. But the answer is always the same: Listen to God, the divine Principle, Love, and know what He knows—that He is infinite Spirit, the only creator, who has made me and all in His image—spiritual, perfect, and only good.