I have several go-to statements from my study of Christian Science, one of which has been a beacon and a rock with its assurance and expectation of God’s, divine Love’s, deliverance: “Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 149–150).

This statement by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, is universally applicable—to anyone in any situation—and it echoes the beloved twenty-third Psalm, which says, “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (verse 4).

Both statements provided much-needed reassurance that we were safe in God’s omnipotent, loving care when my husband and I stumbled into a dangerous, volatile predicament. In this experience, the “tender lesson” that Mrs. Eddy mentions was for us to see that, regardless of what human perception was screaming, the spiritual truth that no one had the power to harm us was governing the situation. Radical reliance on the truth that God always accompanies, loves, and protects each of us enabled us to see these promises fulfilled. 

We couldn’t be in any circumstance where God wasn’t present, despite a frightening “condition” that suggested otherwise.

At the time of this incident, we were working for our government and posted in Latin America. My husband and I had traveled to a distant city to buy food and other items not available where we lived. On the return trip, the back seat of the car was full of packages. 

The highway was solitary and considered risky at night because of bandits, unfenced livestock, and truck drivers’ common practice of driving without lights in the belief that this saved electrical energy. But we were very familiar with the road and eager to return home to our young daughters, so we set out on the all-night drive.

In the wee hours of the morning, we abruptly came upon a roadblock manned by two quite young and very intoxicated soldiers. Too late, we realized that it was not an official roadblock but a shakedown. By then, we appeared to be trapped. The soldiers staggered over to our vehicle, and when they saw the packages in the back seat, they demanded that we get out of the car and give them everything.

Instead of panicking, though, I knew that praying to God is always the most effective thing to do and needed to be my first line of defense. From experience, I knew I could trust our Father-Mother God to protect us. I was sure that God would speak to all of us—including the soldiers—in ways that each one could understand. 

My husband spoke the local language fluently, and I was grateful that he was able to patiently but firmly explain that our diplomatic license plates ensured immunity from search and seizure. Although it seemed impossible to reason with them in their highly intoxicated state, and they were armed, his reply to their repeated demand that we exit the car was simple and unwavering: “It’s not possible.” By this, he meant that they had no authority to force us out of our car. However, they interpreted his refusal as a defiance of their authority.

As I thought about my husband’s words, “It’s not possible,” I realized that the spiritual fact was that everyone involved in the situation was a child of God—the one, infinite Mind—and that it was therefore not possible for any of us to have a separate conflictive mind of our own. In reality, each one could express only the divine Mind. “It was not possible” for one child of God to want to prey upon another. I found refuge in Mrs. Eddy’s reassuring statement that we could not be in any circumstance where God, divine Love, was not present, despite a frightening “condition” that vividly suggested otherwise.

The more sober soldier finally seemed to grasp my husband’s explanation and tried to convince his compatriot to allow us to leave. He even repeated my husband’s wording that it was “not possible” for them to detain us. But this incensed the more intoxicated soldier, who became even more belligerent and pointed his rifle at my husband’s head. 

I knew that I had to continue to vigorously turn my thought away from the scene and know that God’s law of love and protection is forever operating, regardless of appearances. It was essential to cease assessing the situation from a fearful viewpoint and vehemently deny the morbid suggestion that we might not see our children again. 

This passage from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy, helped me to focus on what I knew to be spiritually true: “We may well be perplexed at human fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?” (p. 563). As I accepted the message that the situation we were confronting was not of God and therefore “nothingness”—not real—I gained my peace.

I had to continue to vigorously turn my thought away from the scene and know that God’s law of love is forever operating.

I continued to silently declare that none of us could be separated from God, good. Identifying the soldiers from a spiritual basis as God’s children helped me to see them as not lacking anything or wanting to take what was not rightfully theirs. It also helped me to see that they could not be influenced by alcohol to be willing to harm us. 

Ultimately, the soldiers lifted the roadblock and, waving their guns in the air, told us we were free to go.

We were profoundly relieved and grateful to have witnessed the omnipresence and omnipotence of God’s protecting power that night. This experience has continued to remind me not to be intimidated by frightening events—not to stand aghast at nothingness but instead to know that Love’s infinite presence and power are the only “something” and are always with us and everyone, guiding, supporting, and guarding.