QUESTIONER: Most people, as they come and go about their normal activities, usually take their safety pretty much for granted. But many persons who live alone or who have to go about alone are increasingly concerned for their safety.
SPEAKER: Yes, I'm sure of that. However, I don't think we need to be so fearful. Certainly we should feel safe—yes and protected— when we're engaged in a right activity, but we shouldn't take our safety for granted. That is, we shouldn't leave God out of any situation, because that's where our true safety lies.

I think it's helpful to consider what we think is the best kind of protection. Is it associating with people, or is it material means or force?

Now, we can't always be with other people, and material ways and means are not enough. But we learn from the Bible that God is the one dependable source of real protection. The Psalmist expressed it this way (Ps. 46:1): "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
QUESTIONER: But the trouble seems often to come from outside ourselves. Therefore persons living alone sometimes feel that this outside threat needs to be met by some sort of protection.
SPEAKER: That's why we must turn to God. You see, when we turn to Him we can realize that we are not the victim of circumstances or environment but have God-given dominion over the environment that we find ourselves in, Instead of being afraid of our environment we can turn to God for our protection.

QUESTIONER: If you were confronted with some threat, your first reaction would be to pause and address yourself to God for direction about what you should do?

SPEAKER: I would reach out mentally to God. It takes only a split second to reach out to Him. Right where you are, God is. His infinite power is always available. What's needed, of course, is both a strong faith in and an understanding of God. When we have faith in His presence, faith in His power, we're willing to go out alone. The understanding of His presence is necessary actually to demonstrate safety.

The Bible assures us that we're always in the presence of God, supported and protected by His power. It's expressed this way (Ex. 33:14): "My presence shall go with thee," and (Ps. 91:5,6,11): "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness...For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."
QUESTIONER: That quotation has a ring of assurance about it. But the promised safety is something that many persons do not experience in spite of these declarations.
SPEAKER: Well, I recall hearing some of the boys say during the war that they were safe because they hid themselves in the ninety-first Psalm. Now they couldn't hide themselves physically in that Psalm. But what they really meant was that they were protected by using what they had learned from it regarding God's presence, power, and protection.

We have here something that is understandable and usable. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 571), "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." Now, that's a provable statement of a spiritual fact. We're always in the presence of God's goodness. We're always in the presence of God's love, but so is the other fellow. And your realization of that truth not only protects you; it also protects him from doing wrong.
QUESTIONER: This is very hard for me to believe.
SPEAKER: I think I can explain this by sharing an experience with you. A friend of mine, a student of Christian Science, found that she could be completely safe when she had to make frequent trips alone into a skid row, or run-down, type of neighborhood. But one day as she approached a particularly isolated spot, a very angry-looking individual, who was right in front of her stopped and turned around directly in her path so that she couldn't go around him. Now, she had always found protection by knowing that as the image and likeness of God, infinite Mind, she was under the care of divine Love and consequently immune from all danger and harm.

Now, she had realized that before, but in this particular instance the thought came to her suddenly, "Why, this individual is perfectly protected from doing any harm." And she thought further, "God protects him as well as me from having any part in hatred, in robbery, immorality, or destruction." See how all-inclusive that love was in her thought? She included this rough-appearing individual.

Well, that dark, dreary place seemed so filled with the light of divine Love that not only was this woman's fear entirely destroyed, but evidently the man felt God's power too, for he quickly stepped aside and allowed her to pass by. Now that is a practical application of a law of Love, of God's love, of God's power.
QUESTIONER: This thought of sharing something with others is interesting.
SPEAKER: Yes, we're certainly sharing a wonderful gift, even if the other individual does not recognize the gift.

You see, we affect the atmosphere that we find ourselves in. We can either be a part of it or we can challenge it. It's up to us. We can take in the fear, the dismal sense of things, or we can challenge it and reverse what we see by turning wholeheartedly to God. What God has for you, what He has for me, He has for the other fellow too.
QUESTIONER: God's presence is a tremendous help; but what about all these current statistics? We really can't disregard common sense precautions in the face of the threats we read about daily.
SPEAKER: No, indeed we can't; and we shouldn't. We should always express God's wisdom in whatever we do. But the individual needs to face very squarely these questions: What am I afraid of? Am I afraid that something might happen to me? Or that something might harm me? Or that there's a place that might be dangerous?

Our protection comes from the spiritual fact of understanding God's nature and our relationship to Him. God's saving power is just as available to us as it was to the early prophets or to Christ Jesus and his disciples. The understanding that we are never separated from the protecting power of God, perfect Mind, gives faith which will rule out fear.

So the more we understand the infinite presence and power of divine Love and rely on this power, the more we see that evil really has no dominion over God's man and is therefore unable to influence or harm him.

The understanding of Love's power acts as a law of safety and can be applied in our everyday affairs.

So, whether we live alone or with others, we have the assurance that we are indeed "hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). And therefore we are free from fear, divinely equipped—that is, equipped by God to protect ourselves from harm. Proverbs expresses it this way (29:25): "Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."