Many months ago, I went to bed, and it was already one o’clock in the morning. I was very sleepy and had happily told my grandchildren that I was going to have a great night’s sleep. But that’s not what happened. As soon as I lay down, I felt itchy all over.

At first, I insisted on staying in bed, but I couldn’t fall asleep. So I got up and read online in the Portuguese edition of The Herald of Christian Science the translation of an article that had come to thought: “Only the Father knoweth the Son” (Paul Stark Seeley, Sentinel, December 2, 1944).

This article helped me recognize that each individual has only one real relative, God, and that God cares for us completely. This realization that God is my Father and Mother brought me great peace of mind, because it affirmed my sincere prayer and showed me that we are always totally safe in God. It also dispelled fear that I or someone else—a beloved child of God—could be subject to persecution or any form of manipulation and become a helpless victim. I understood more that all children of God are innocent, protected, and joyful, just as God knows us to be.