In looking back at the events of this past year, there’s no doubt that one of the most inspiring and heartening was the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from deep inside a cave in northern Thailand. The plight of those boys captured worldwide attention several months ago, and the rescue provided ample reason to marvel at the extraordinary humanitarian effort. Courage, precision, and stamina are a few of the identifiable elements that contributed to the rescue. Wisdom, unselfishness, and heroism are a few more. Truly, the best in human nature! All those involved in the rescue mission are deserving of all the heartfelt gratitude and praise they receive.

Concurrent with the rescue mission, and even during the nine days preceding the discovery of the boys’ location in the cave, many people were actively praying. The hopes and faith of many of those individuals were placed in the unseen (to the physical senses) presence and power of God, who since biblical times has been described as a refuge, strength, and fortress; as a rock, strong tower, and deliverer. Yet some might find it unrealistic to credit God with having played any part in the rescue, so vivid was the evidence of human engagement.

What role might an unseen supreme power have played? The answer will depend on how one defines God. If God is thought to be a distant, detached ruler in heaven who occasionally intervenes dramatically in earthly events, depending on the petitioner and the petition, then the basis for assuming divine participation could seem highly questionable.

However, if God is viewed as infinite, ever-present Principle operating continuously, and if the nature of this Principle is understood as all-powerful, intelligent, and loving, then there is a stronger basis for seeing God as the source of all the noble attributes apparent in the rescue—the source of the love, the intelligence, the courage, the skill, etc.

The Thai Navy Seals commented in a Facebook post that they didn’t know whether the mission’s success was due to “a miracle or a science or what.” What an arresting thought! In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy offers a unique perspective on this conjecture. For example, there is this statement: “A miracle fulfils God’s law, but does not violate that law” (p. 134). And on page 591, miracle is explained as “that which is divinely natural, but must be learned humanly; a phenomenon of Science.” 

Let’s all participate in mankind’s rescue missions through our prayers.

In Christian Science, God is understood as cause, creator, origin, source—as the divine Principle, Love, and as divine Mind. And man and the universe are explained as effect, expression, manifestation, reflection—fully sourced and governed by the one universal divine Principle. In other words, nothing originates in or from man, but the fullness of the divine Principle is made evident as man and is expressed in man. In this light, it is apparent that God and man, divine Principle and its manifestation, were indispensable to the rescue mission.

From the perspective of Christian Science, as one is motivated by an unselfed love to bless others, he or she receives infinite support from the unceasing flow of resources from the divine source. Science and Health illustrates and explains this point with this example: “It is proverbial that Florence Nightingale and other philanthropists engaged in humane labors have been able to undergo without sinking fatigues and exposures which ordinary people could not endure. The explanation lies in the support which they derived from the divine law, rising above the human. The spiritual demand, quelling the material, supplies energy and endurance surpassing all other aids, and forestalls the penalty which our beliefs would attach to our best deeds” (p. 385). Science and Health also says, “Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power” (p. 192).

Is this discussion just academic, or can it make a meaningful difference in the impact of our individual lives? Unaware of the existence and operation of the divine Principle, Love, humanity often fails to even attempt, let alone achieve, what could be possible with the support of the divine power and presence. To illustrate simply: If we knew we had a thirty-gallon gasoline tank in our automobile, we would venture further than if we thought we had only a ten-gallon tank. All of us are capable of more than we do, because we have more resources available to us than we typically understand, acknowledge, or access. Realizing the presence and availability of resources that would typically be thought of as miraculous, all of us could express more unselfed love, courage, ingenuity, and persistence when up against daunting odds, which would win many victories for humanity’s advancement.

We live in an age that champions self-help efforts. But when the human mind believes that matter—with all its inherent limitations and its ultimate self-destruction—is all that exists, the human mind is limited in what it can accomplish. It is further limited by its acceptance of the notion that seeming forces such as ignorance, fear, greed, intolerance, hatred, and lust can and will overpower efforts toward progress. 

But humanity is not limited to human resources. Progress in areas such as health care, education, food production, and water desalination, as well as in reducing corruption and violence, achieving gender and racial equity, furthering international peace, and so on, is made possible through individuals’ awareness and understanding of the universal divine Principle that sparks and supports all efforts on behalf of the greater good. To the degree that mankind understands that all that is beneficial to human progress has a spiritual source and is ever available, this knowledge will have a seismic impact in the world.

Each of us can be animated by compassion and empowered to accomplish more for humanity’s release from its worst enemies. 

When we realize that good has a permanent, spiritual basis, and that opposition to good (i.e., evil) does not have a divine source—and therefore is powerless—our courage and persistence to win higher ground will be stimulated. As Science and Health explains: “Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless; nor are the so-called laws of matter primary, and the law of Spirit secondary. Without this lesson, we lose sight of the perfect Father, or the divine Principle of man” (p. 207). This is not pollyannaism; it is a foundational point of the Science of Christianity on which the demonstrations of divine power by Christ Jesus and his early followers were based. An understanding of the ever-operative divine Principle of all good and the powerlessness of evil can break the grip of forbidding forces and fears.

When we survey humanity’s history, we might pause to reflect on examples of individual courage and heroism in escaping and defeating oppressive regimes, ideologies, and social practices such as slavery, child labor, and addiction. Considering these examples, we can’t help but acknowledge the impact that divine Principle has had in impelling and undergirding human efforts to bring freedom and opportunity to the people of the world. From its 19th-century context but timeless perspective, Science and Health observes: “The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon’s mouth. Love is the liberator” (p. 225).

Right this moment, many thousands of ordinary people are engaged in efforts and actions aimed at combating the worst elements active in human consciousness with the hope of uplifting the quality of life for individuals, families, communities, and nations. Let’s all participate in their rescue missions through our prayers. Praying to realize that man is animated and empowered by the divine Principle can do a lot to support the success of these efforts. 

Also at this moment, many more thousands are choosing to not engage in mankind’s progress because they feel inadequate and helpless. With thought roused to acknowledge the presence and operation of divine Principle, Love, each of us can be animated by compassion and empowered to accomplish more for humanity’s release from its worst enemies than if we close our eyes in indifference or despair, or try to “go it alone” without divine support. The best that human nature has to offer is, in fact, from the divine Principle of existence and is spiritual in its origin and infinite in its reach.