A friend recently shared an amusing tale with me. A man fell into a well and was unable to get himself out. Another man came along, saw the first man’s predicament, and was so moved by it that he climbed down into the well to hold the man’s hand to comfort him—joining him in what appeared to be a hopeless situation. A third passer-by, however, took a more productive approach and got a rope to pull them out.

This story resonated with me. 

As a young child, I spent a great deal of time worrying about the suffering in the world and wanting to alleviate it. Injustice of any kind distressed me greatly. I often felt overwhelmed by the plight of the innocent and the vulnerable, including animals. Like the man who went down into the well to comfort his neighbor, I would often get into the well with others, figuratively speaking, by feeling responsible for rescuing them or fixing their problems. Yet, this often left me feeling anguished and helpless. 

I could not see a way forward. In total surrender, I turned the situation over to God.

I had been raised in Christian Science and had a deep love for God, and as I became a mother and an educator, I had countless opportunities to take my concerns to God in prayer. I slowly learned to relinquish the belief that I was responsible for fixing others or righting the injustices of the world and to instead have greater faith in God’s ability to right what is wrong and fully care and provide for His children. I saw that my greatest responsibility was to God—to be a transparency for His healing love and to align my thoughts with what God knows about us. That meant resolutely refusing to focus on the frightening images and disturbing events and praying to see what God sees, the spiritual origin and unchanging harmony of His creation. I realized this would be the most effective way for me to help humanity. 

However, when I started volunteering 18 years ago, helping those who were marginalized by society and living in seemingly entrenched poverty, my resolve to do this was tested on a daily basis. I was volunteering in a semirural community in South Africa and knew from the outset that my work would be ineffective if I were seeing this as anything other than an opportunity to bear witness to God’s grace. This would ensure that I would not be mired in emotionalism or pity, which would be of no help to anyone.

I prayed daily for humility—for confidence in God’s authority, power, and presence. One day, in a preschool I met a little boy (I’ll call him Sipho) who was sad and silent and did not interact with the other children. My efforts to draw him out met with little success, so I committed myself to consistently seeing him only as God was seeing him—as His child, created by God in His own image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26, 27) and therefore complete, secure, worthy, and satisfied. This did not involve trying to see a happy mortal in place of a dejected one but instead recognizing this boy as the immortal, unlimited child of God. 

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of the divine Science Jesus lived and taught, writes, “Science reveals the glorious possibilities of immortal man, forever unlimited by the mortal senses” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 288). As I held to this idea, I began to see in Sipho what had been there all along—the animation, love, and security that belong to each child of God. Before long, both he and the preschool began to flourish.

The following year, his mother passed on, and I was asked by his family if I could continue to care for him and provide for his needs. I agreed to do so, knowing that I couldn’t be disadvantaged by this but only blessed. I prayed every step of the way, constantly affirming that God was the unfailing source of right ideas. As a result, solutions for Sipho’s housing and educational needs often came in unexpected ways. 

This assurance from Science and Health became my daily prayer: “God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis” (p. 258). As an infinite, spiritual expression of God, divine Spirit, Sipho could not be defined or limited by economic, environmental, hereditary, or cultural factors. I repeatedly assured him that God had made him and was enabling him to do all that was required of him. This is true for all of us as children of God.

Sipho accepted the truth unquestioningly. He became more outgoing and confident, and I became more and more confident that he was forever in his divine Father’s care. That was an important step for me, too.

A few years later, though, it became obvious that the boy was underperforming at school. His teachers were concerned about him, and it was making him anxious and reluctant to go to school. One particularly bleak night, I realized that he might be struggling with a reading disability and feared that if he could not finish school, there would be little hope for a successful future for him. I could not see a way forward. In total surrender, I turned the situation over to God.

The very next day I learned of a new school opening up near Sipho’s home, at which there were two teachers trained to assist children with this particular learning challenge. He was accepted as a student there the following year. I wrote out the following Bible verse on a piece of paper and gave it to him to read when he was at school: “I [God] have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship” (Exodus 31:3). I also read and prayed with this verse daily.

As Sipho’s confidence and love of learning grew, he no longer needed special assistance with reading. Three years ago, he passed his matriculation exams and went on to graduate.

When I saw him the following year, I asked him how he had approached his exams. He told me that every time he sat down at his desk, he asked God to help him. And, indeed, God had.

There was more good to come. For many years this fine young man had wanted to become a chef. Once again, God opened the way forward. He is now attending a prestigious culinary school, where he is excelling.

Along with the spiritual growth gained during this experience has come the confidence that no situation is beyond God’s reach and help. While the world’s challenges can still seem overwhelming at times, I no longer get stuck down a “well” of doubt or pity. I now respond with compassion, girded by the conviction that God’s love enfolds everyone and everything—and that having this spiritual foundation is the best gift I, or anyone, can give in serving humanity.