There were lots of teary goodbyes, hugs, and promises to call and keep in touch.

It was the end of my freshman year of college, and my friends and I were parting ways for the summer. I loved college and had such a blast living on campus with all my newly made friends. We went to rock concerts, movies, coffee shops, and had study parties. Three months apart from them for summer break seemed like eternity. I’d also made a couple of older friends who were graduating. Those goodbyes were even more difficult. I didn’t know when or if I would ever see them again. It seemed awful that I could come to love these people so much and then be separated from them.

These feelings and emotions were very familiar. For the first few weeks I was at college, I’d frequently talked with my high school friends on the phone and Instant Messaged with them. While people on my hall were going out to have fun, I would stay in my room and chat with my high school friends.

One day my resident counselor told me she noticed I wasn’t making efforts to meet new people. She was right. I was afraid of losing my high school friends. Soon, I began to reach out and interact with other students at school. But then, when I went home for winter break, I felt a longing for my college friends! It was as if I couldn’t be happy anywhere.

I was fed up and knew I needed to snap out of this funk I was in.

In order to change my thinking habits, I began to pray. I’d been raised a Christian Scientist and had attended Christian Science Sunday School, so I was used to turning to God in any time of need for effective results.

While I was praying and listening to God, the ideas that came to me were along the lines of “lifting” my ideas about love from a mere human sense of feeling wanted and cared for, to a higher sense of God’s infinite continuity. In Sunday School I’d learned that God is Love. That simple statement packs a punch, and it was really helpful to me in this way: If God is Love, and God is all, then all is Love.

I realized that God, Love, isn’t embodied only in certain people with whom I’ve shared fun experiences—Love is wherever I go. There is always an infinite supply. As I prayed to really feel the power of these ideas, the concept that there is no separation from Love became very clear. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures states, “. . . man cannot be separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God.” I realized that, in reality, all of my treasured relationships had been with a reflection of God. In that sense, I was always surrounded by the most love available—God’s love.

It took a little while for this to really sink in over the summer. Sometimes I lapsed back into feeling sorry for myself. If I began to feel down, I had a quick catchphrase to get me back into a right line of thinking: “No separation.” My prayers culminated in an amazing experience that showed me the significance of recognizing that I am never separated from God.

Only a couple of weeks into the summer, I went on a family vacation to a beautiful nature area. We went on a hike to view some waterfalls, and I decided to climb the rocks right next to the waterfall, about 15 feet above the ground. It was a neat view, and I encouraged my younger cousins to join me. Everyone took pictures of us, and we were having a great time. When it was time to come down, I figured I would find the best way to climb down safely and then direct the others to follow. But while I was doing this, my hand slipped unexpectedly.

I remember very distinctly when I first felt my hand slipping. The idea that permeated my thought was loud and clear: “No separation!” I fell onto the rocks below, landing on my back.

Lying near the bottom of the waterfall, I was stunned. I was still for just a moment, instantly realizing the fact that I was not separated from God. I felt no pain, and was almost surprised that this was the case. I’d read about this in Christian Science magazines—about others aligning their thoughts with God right away in a time of trouble. Realizing I had just done this immediately without any complicated prayerful reasoning was special, and I knew I would walk away unharmed.

The group had seen my fall and was very alarmed. But I got up, let everyone know I was fine, and had nothing but a small bruise on my elbow, which was no big deal. And I was able to help direct my cousins down safely. We were all grateful for this proof of God’s care. One friend of mine who was on the trip with us, and who isn’t a Christian Scientist, couldn’t believe I’d fallen that far with no resulting injury or pain.

I was so grateful that I’d been praying consistently with the idea of “no separation” from God, Love, before this happened.

When I went back to school in the fall, I felt stronger in my relationships and less dependent on others for my happiness. And, for the most part, I didn’t feel like I was missing anyone. Every once in a while I would feel a twinge of that old longing feeling, but the idea of “no separation” would wash away any sadness. I was left with a refreshed feeling of gratitude for God’s presence and for always being surrounded with expressions of love.

No separation:

Science and Health
306:18-19

King James Bible
Matt. 28:20 I am (to .)