Safe even in the face of danger

Don’t ever doubt that your prayers for a hostage’s safety—or for the safety of anyone who may be in some other kind of danger anywhere in the world—can make a difference.

When I was about 22 years old, I decided to travel around Europe by myself. My parents didn’t like this very much, but I was of legal age, so they couldn’t stop me. I have to say that I had a wonderful time. Months later, when I returned, my bag contained sets of keys from people—most of them strangers—who had invited me to stay in their homes.

On one occasion, I met a kind man on a commuter train who told me he was worried that I was alone, and invited me home to stay with his family. Although I declined, he insisted on seeing me to a hotel and speaking with the management about my care. This kind of thing happened again and again.

But once, I was faced with a dangerous situation. I was staying for several weeks just outside Paris with another family I’d met. I planned to travel into the beautiful City of Light every morning to see a museum, an exhibit, a different section of town.

One morning, I headed out from the train station, deep in thought. When I looked up, I realized I’d gone down an unfamiliar street. People were speaking a language I didn’t know—neither French nor English.

All of a sudden, a young woman stepped out from the shadows of an alley and accosted me.

The only way I can describe what happened next was what I realize now was a kind of hypnotism. I seemed helpless to keep her from rifling through my pockets and pulling things from them that I knew weren’t there. While I was confused and disoriented, she pulled me further into the alley. Then two men stepped toward me.

I could see that the entrance to the street was a long way off by now, and I was scared. But in that moment, I appealed to God. My prayer wasn’t specific; I just knew that God loved me too much to be behind this evil. I knew Him to be all good and nothing else.

Inspired with this simple thought, I heard myself shout, “No!” I loosed the woman’s hand from my arm with a force I didn’t know I had, and I broke free and ran.

Once I was back on the street with the crowd, I was okay, but shaken. I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in the Christian Science Reading Room, thanking God for my deliverance. While there, I came upon the poem “Mother’s Evening Prayer” by Mary Baker Eddy. I saw the last verse as particularly relevant to this event. It says:

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain
No night drops down upon the troubled breast,
When heaven’s after-smile earth’s tear-drops gain,
And mother finds her home and heavenly rest.

I saw very clearly that I had been delivered from a “snare,” and I was grateful to God for that.

Later that afternoon, I met up with the mother of the family with whom I was staying. When I told her what had happened, she was very grateful I was safe. She said she’d meant to tell me to steer clear of that area of the city, as the newspapers had reported a number of instances in which young women had been abducted. The police had carried out some raids, but the problem wasn’t entirely cleared up yet.

But that’s not the end of the story. This happened back when long-distance phone service was undependable and expensive. Besides, in my youthful independence, I’d decided not to call my parents. But I did write long letters, and once I’d regained my composure, I wrote home, telling my mother exactly what had happened. I started my letter with something like, “There’s no need for you to worry now, because I’m already all right ...”

A letter came back from my mother by return mail. In it, she told me what had happened to her on the same day I’d been accosted a continent away. She was working as the librarian in the Christian Science Reading Room in our town, and had suddenly felt that I was in some awful danger.

At first, she said, she felt helpless and afraid, because she didn’t know where I was at that moment, or what might be wrong. But as she began to pray, she was led to look at Mrs. Eddy’s poem, “Mother’s Evening Prayer.” And the last verse really assured her that I was safe in God’s care.

A coincidence? Maybe. But this sort of thing—when the intuitive prayer of one individual has helped someone else many miles away—has happened to me, and to people I know and love, many times.

So I have to believe that right this minute, as we are all praying for the release of hostages around the world, they can feel our love. Even more, they can feel God’s love with them right now, strengthening and comforting them.

God's constant protection:

Science and Health
12:31-1
559:8-12

King James Bible
Ps. 46:1