God’s Love, not fear’s tyranny, is always with us
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
Since 9/11 the world has been fighting tyranny and covert acts of terrorism, and now forces of nature seem to be causing much more devastation and destruction than battles with evasive terrorists have ever done. What can we do about it? How do we help ourselves and others? Is it possible to escape the tyranny that evil tries to impose on us?
To truly eliminate the influence of evil, I’ve found that it is of utmost importance to begin with God, the source of protection and safety for me and my family under all circumstances.
I was living in the middle of the French Quarter in 1965 when Hurricane Betsy hit the New Orleans area. Betsy didn't pack the wallop that Katrina has, but it is in the top ten in a list of costliest hurricanes to hit the United States. In particularly low-lying areas, flood waters were five or six feet above the street level. I can remember seeing the watermarks on houses we drove by after the storm.
Most of all, I remember the threat to life and limb because the levees holding back the Mississippi River were much higher than the foundations of any structure standing in the French Quarter at that time, and the levees would not have been high enough if the hurricane had caused an extremely high storm surge on Lake Pontchartrain, or if they cracked open. We could hear the fog horns in the middle of the night from the boats on the river and prayed they wouldn't come sailing up to our door, about four blocks away. It was a scary night and I prayed, reaffirming what I had learned from reading Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
For a few weeks prior to this, I had been reading Science and Health over again and underlining certain passages that strengthened my conviction in many different ways that “all things are possible to God.” It was a joyous study, and looking back on it, I can see that my thought was being prepared for what I didn’t know then would be a tremendous storm. As a result of this study, I was ready for just about anything, even the threat of Hurricane Betsy.
That night, we closed the wooden shutters to cover the windows and literally turned our backs on the storm so we could focus on prayer for ourselves and for all.
I can remember saying to my family, "God will take care of us. He loves us and would not allow any harm to come to us." I firmly believed this, and I prayed not just for our own protection but for our community. I knew what was true for me was true for everyone. Much to our joy, we had no damage and even the electricity stayed on through much of the storm. Looking back on it in the light of the damage caused by Katrina, this may seem like a modest accomplishment, but it was one for which we were very grateful.
The spiritual truths we relied on then have the same power today. However, the demand is now far greater for a concerted effort in recognizing humanity’s spiritual heritage in the face of evils that seem to be even more aggressive and destructive. One of the things that Christian Science makes clear is that these conditions do not constitute spiritual reality, and we should not let them tyrannize us.
The Bible’s message is that "life is eternal." What does this mean? To me, it is saying that life is spiritual and goes on beyond the mortal scene with its vicissitudes and problems, devastation and destruction, and its need of healing. That there is a greater view, higher than what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. One statement about eternal life that I’ve found helpful is from John’s Gospel: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." We start to know God and Jesus Christ when we strive to learn more about the power and love of God and the works and healings of Jesus Christ. Then we can practice healing of a higher sort, healing achieved through acknowledging our eternal oneness with God. We can aspire to heal as Jesus did, and this will free us from tyranny, just as Jesus’ ministry did so much to free others.
From the premise that there is more to life than what appears on the material scene of suffering and violence, it’s possible to go a step further and say, "Since there is more than what appears here, that life is eternal and goes on forever, the spiritual view beyond what we see here must be good, and there really must be a higher power, called God.” This God is the source of all good, of all Truth, of all Life, and all Love, and we can trust Him. Mary Baker Eddy explained this spiritual view of existence in these words: "Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth.”
God has given dominion to man, but this dominion is spiritual, the result of man’s perfect unity with his loving Creator. The Bible states this dominion beautifully in a passage from the book of Psalms: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou has put all things under his feet."
It follows then, that God is the source of our dominion and blessing; He does not send devastation and destruction, turmoil and lack. He isn’t a tyrant, and He doesn’t allow evil to tyrannize His creation. The belief that He sends evil to punish us is a remnant of believing that God is a corporeal creator who made an imperfect creation. Man, meaning both men and women, is perfectly created by a perfect God. As God’s children, you and I are spiritual, always well, perfect, whole and safe. We can reject the false tyranny of fear, ignorance and sin because such arguments never come from God. We can accept the good that comes from what we are learning about our relationship with God and know that we can never be separated from His love.
What is true for us is also true for everyone. No one is left out. We are all God's creation. We are all blessed. Such prayer has a healing effect.
Mrs. Eddy wrote of the power of healing prayer in Science and Health. This passage seems especially relevant to the current situation where so much remains to be done before conditions along the Gulf Coast return to normalcy: "Those, who are willing to leave their nets or to cast them on the right side for Truth, have the opportunity now, as aforetime, to learn and to practise Christian healing. The Scriptures contain it. The spiritual import of the Word imparts this power." Wouldn't we all like to practice that Christian healing in order to remove the effects of this devastating storm and meet what seem to be so many human needs?
Jesus Christ told his disciples to cast their nets on the right side and then they were filled to overflowing with fish to take to market. They learned that the right side is the side of everlasting Truth where one can feel one's unity with God—with Truth, Life and Love, and totally reject the tyranny of evil or lack. It is a side of abundance and goodness, always meeting every human need by virtue of our being spiritual, not material or mortal.
How grateful we can be that we are in the care of a loving God, a God who is ever with us guiding us, guarding us and governing us. We can look for and find the good that is going on. From the fire of disaster the phoenix of renewal can rise, and with it a firmer resolution to look for God’s presence and goodness in action.
This spiritual enlightenment will lead us into all kinds of new channels to do good, receive good and be good. It is our safety from tyranny of any kind. It will provide strength and guidance for meeting everyone’s needs in a much more effective way right here and right now because it is not the tyranny of fear and trouble, but divine Love, God, who is always with us, caring for each and every one of us—His beloved children.