"Do you think that God sends storms?" was the first question asked by the teacher of a Christian Science Sunday School class after tornadoes had swept through their city the night before. The answer from every member of the class was an emphatic No. All in the class had been spared from the ravages of the storm. One pupil reported that a small twister had passed over their home but had remained aloft. They all felt that their prayers had helped to protect them and others.

The teacher mentioned a citation from the Christian Science Quarterly Lesson-Sermon for that week that had stood out in her prayers: "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." ^{Ps. 33:5;}

When his ship was tossed by the waves, the Master, Christ Jesus, unafraid of the suggestions of danger, rebuked the wind and waves with the words, "Peace, be still." The account continues: "And there was a great calm." ^{Mark 4:39;} The Master knew that good was the only presence and power. How can we, today, pray better so that we can help overcome destructive weather? We can begin by knowing that the universe, including man, is under God's control. We can pray to see clearly that God creates and controls the atmosphere in which we really live as His perfectly-cared-for, spiritual ideas. It is mistaken, human thinking that gives rise to the belief that we are helpless in the face of turbulence in a physical universe. It is lack of understanding of man's relationship to the divine Principle of the universe that gives rise to fear and permits violence in atmospheric conditions. An understanding of the all-power and ever-presence of Spirit, God, silences material violence.

Since God, Spirit, is good and governs all, whatever is unlike God is unreal. Its seeming reality must be seen as the deceptive evidence of the erroneous material senses. As we establish the allness of spiritual good in consciousness, replacing the false turbulence of mortal mind with the perfect harmony of divine Life, we become aware of the Christ, the ideal Truth always present in our thought, always saying, "Peace, be still" to errors of every kind.

However, in Christian Science one does not attempt to control the weather. He prays to see that God is in charge of the universe. In this way he helps to correct discordant weather conditions through prayer, for nothing is beyond God's harmonious control. In his book, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, Irving C. Tomlinson says of Mrs. Eddy: "She made it clear that Christian Scientists are not to attempt to control or govern the weather. We should know that God governs the weather and no other influence can be brought to bear on it." And on the same page we find a description of an audible prayer of Mrs. Eddy's, overheard by a member of her household: "It contained no request for a special blessing for health, comfort, or prosperity for herself or her Cause, but was a beautiful declaration of the power of Spirit to bless all mankind. She affirmed that there was no lack of God's promises for His offspring, and declared God's presence, hourly and momentarily." ^{Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1966), p. 203;}

Such an approach in Christian Science to harmonious conditions removes the attempt to control the weather from a standpoint of human will. Instead, we can recognize God's allness and omnipotence and expect to see good results.

Whenever bad weather threatens, we can apply spiritual truth to the erroneous belief that man is material and subject to physical forces beyond his control. Mrs. Eddy writes, "In the order of Science, in which the Principle is above what it reflects, all is one grand concord." ^{Science and Health, p. 240;} A clear acknowledgment of this divine reality assures us of individual protection and helps clear the general atmosphere of thought.

As we prayerfully strive to express the power of the Christ, to see perfect God and His perfect man as the basis of being, we can say with God-given authority to every evidence of material discord, "Peace, be still." And, as we practice the healing truth of the Christ, we will more and more experience that great calm of spiritual understanding and prove all is well. Looking to the divine Mind where every spiritual idea dwells eternally in perfect harmony, we demonstrate the truth Mrs. Eddy describes in Science and Health: "The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace." ^{ibid., p. 506.}