I love this quote from the book of Zephaniah: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (3:17). At one point, a number of years ago, I found myself praying constantly with this passage during a family trip to Disney World near Orlando, Florida.

We stayed at a nearby hotel and took a taxi or shuttle each day to get in and out of the parks. Throughout the trip I felt led to pray with this scripture, which was included in the Bible Lesson for that week. As we were walking around the parks, enjoying rides and viewing the many sights at Disney, I was joyfully praying and reversing whatever inharmonious thoughts came up. So any time I noticed negative thoughts like impatience or worry creeping in, I would replace them with the facts I knew about God and His creation.

In my pocket I had an index card with this scripture, and each time I turned to it, I saw it differently. As I would read it, the words would take on new meaning. Wherever it said “Lord,” “God,” “He,” or “His,” a synonym or scientific term for God would flow perfectly into my thinking, which would bring out another facet of this idea. So I would read something like, “The understanding which is thy Mind that is in the midst of thee is mighty; this Truth will save. Life will rejoice over thee with joy, Love will rest in His love, Soul will joy over thee with singing!”

I also noticed the word “will” as the indicator of promise: “He will save . . . .” I realized that these promises were actually already true and present facts. So the passage could read like this: “The understanding of Love in the midst of my experience is the mighty Savior. Life is rejoicing over us with joy, Mind is resting in this Love, Soul is joying over us with singing.”

As we were leaving the park one evening, we caught a taxi back to the hotel. The driver gained speed as we pulled away from the park—and then suddenly out of nowhere I saw a boy running out toward the car. The taxi driver could not stop in time, and we heard a loud thud and screaming.

My immediate, vehement reaction was, “NO! No one can step out of God’s protective care even for a moment.” The passage that I’d been praying with all day came flooding back to me, and I just knew that God was “in the midst” of us right in that moment.

As the cab driver got out of the car, I asked God how to convey to him that everything was already all right. I got out of the car to come with him, and the words came out: “Don’t be afraid. Everything is OK.” My wife and children waited patiently in the car as we went to where the child was. As we approached, his mother (who had been standing on the sidewalk a moment before) greeted us with a joyful glowing smile. “He’s just fine!” she announced, and he clearly was—not a scratch on him. He was just as perfect as could be, and his mother did not seem the least bit disturbed about the situation. In fact, she continued to assure us that he was OK.

I just knew that God was “in the midst” of us right in that moment.

As we were heading back to the car, the taxi driver could see that the mirror on the driver’s side was hanging off the car. When we got in, he phoned his boss. I continued praying, and affirmed that an accident had never happened—that there never was a moment when we were not under the providence of divine Mind—and that a non-event couldn’t have any effects. Right at that moment the driver grabbed the mirror, put it back in its place, and it clicked right back on the body of the car. I heard him say, “Wow, it’s not broken at all.”

As we were riding off, there was such a calm atmosphere. At one point the driver shook his head and pointed upward, saying, “You know, God is good . . . All the time!” Amen, I thought. When we got out of the cab, I gave him the card with the scripture I’d been praying with, and he was very grateful.

When we are more aware of God than we are of error, we no longer stand on the same level as error. We begin to see clearly that there is no activity or substance that could be harmed but only a false impression to be corrected. We are aware of this as we are aware of God. On page 290 of Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896 Mary Baker Eddy describes it this way: “When thought dwells in God,—and it should not, to our consciousness, dwell elsewhere,—one must benefit those who hold a place in one’s memory, whether it be friend or foe, and each share the benefit of that radiation. This individual blessedness and blessing comes not so much from individual as from universal love: it emits light because it reflects; and all who are receptive share this equally.”

Our consistent realization of God’s presence is the spirit of Christian Science, and in this realization our conversation and experience are always good.