"Oh, Mom! Look what we could win!"

My son was exercising his reading skills on the cereal box during breakfast. Excitedly he read the list of prizes to be given away in a sweepstakes. By just filling out the form and mailing it in, you might be lucky enough to win, the ad suggested. He and his sister pored over the description of the prizes, adding a "Wow!" here and there. The concept of a drawing for prizes was new to them. It did not escape my attention that both seemed to be eating an inordinate amount of cereal that morning, presumably in a rush to cut the entry form from the box and send it right away.

"I think it would be better if we didn't enter that contest," I broke in quietly. "It's a form of gambling, you know, and as Christian Scientists, we want to keep our freedom from the whole belief of chance."

"Aw, Mom! It's just a game," my son moaned. Both children were disappointed, but because they had to rush off to school, we agreed to discuss it later.

Why had I made an issue of such a seemingly innocent thing? Because Christian Science had been teaching me the practicality of acknowledging God, divine Mind, as always supplying every need and keeping His universe in perfect order. I had seen the protective and healing benefits of realizing that there really is no chance or luck involved in having health, financial security, and friendship. One statement in particular from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy has been inspiring. To the degree I've understood it, I've gained a growing conviction of God's guidance and a corresponding ability to prove that the divine factor, not chance, is the only true factor governing man. The passage reads: "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.

"Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection." ^{Science and Health, p. 424.}

That evening when we had more time, the children and I sat down together and went over this passage. At first they were a little perplexed as to what the prevention of accidents had to do with entering a sweepstakes. Especially when winning a bike or toy looked like such a good result! To them, the game seemed harmless enough.

Many years ago I held the same attitude. Prior to learning of Christian Science, I was by no means a gambler in the conventional sense. Yet, like most people, I operated from the world's "mortal basis of belief" in trying to calculate, for example, my chances of finding satisfying work, security, and good companionship. Such things as national statistics, percentages of success or failure by individuals, and other dubious monitors worried and influenced my thinking. Sometimes things seemed to tilt in my favor. At other times, however, my aspirations and needs seemed to be facing incredible odds. Indeed, my idealism about life was crumbling. Most people thought of life as a tough, chancy game, and I was about ready to fall into their ranks.

My introduction to Christian Science set me straight by giving me a clearer, higher view of God and life. This view is exemplified in the previous quotation from Science and Health. Here I was seeing God characterized as being the one, immortal Mind, whose direction is unerring. Chance is unknown in His kingdom. To the extent that my thoughts have conformed to this true, spiritual idea of God's perfection, I have gained immeasurably. Christ Jesus' words have continually been a reminder: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ^{Matt. 6:33.}

As I have sought the kingdom of heaven, the consciousness of God's presence, and put this first in my thought, there has been a corresponding increase of good in my experience. Needs have always been met, in beautiful and often unexpected ways. Right along with this, I've had to work to have my words and deeds conform to a more Christly standard. But this effort has always resulted in the most lovely increase in satisfaction and joy, giving a wonderful sense of safety and freedom that could have come in no other way.

A few years ago a friend registered my name, without my knowledge, in a giveaway contest for an appliance at a local store. I received a call telling me that my name had been drawn to receive this prize. At first I was overjoyed, because I did need such an appliance. After a few moments, though, I realized that it was not a God-sent blessing, since I had received it in an operation decidedly based on the notion of chance as the winning factor. It was not an award for creativity, a right answer, or any other legitimate contribution. I was being awarded a prize for being "lucky"—a supposedly "good" accident. I refused the prize and never regretted it. Shortly thereafter, my need was met in a much better way. And later I saw the whole experience as an overcoming of the temptation to believe that chance in any form governed my experience. This lesson awakened me to a deeper acknowledgment of God's unerring law of good, or divine providence.

I longed for a practical illustration so my children could see in their own lives, right then, the safety that comes from knowing chance and accident to be false beliefs that have no power or ability to limit man. A few days later I received a call from school, warning parents that quite a few children had come down with the symptoms of a particular disease. A high percentage of the students were expected to be absent because of the predicted spread of this ailment. We talked about this prediction at home, since quite a discussion on the subject had already ensued at school. The children were worried about the numbers of children who might get sick, and even wondered (despite their understanding of God) if they might.

We concluded that this was mortal belief's way of getting us to "gamble." The predicted percentages of illness were the odds. We decided that God, eternal Love, the one unerring Mind, certainly doesn't play games with His beloved creation. We reasoned that we weren't gamblers or believers in chance, and so didn't have to play mortal belief's game. We prayed to truly recognize that good is not random, but always present, since God is All-in-all.

No member of the family was touched by any symptom of the disease, and the concern at school died down considerably. But, most important, the children and I had grown in our conviction of "God's unerring direction."

As our individual view of the divine presence increases, we owe it to the world to widen the horizon of our prayer in nullifying dismal predictions. Perhaps we underestimate the healing ability of our prayer in the face of reported probabilities of war, food shortages, or disaster. These calamities, threatening and hopeless as they appear, are not fixed facts but the awful objectification of the thoughts and fears in mankind's thinking. Mankind may well feel like a puny David up against a roaring Goliath. But we must not imagine that David's victory was lucky—"considering that the odds were against him." God's saving law is omnipotence itself and ever available. Every effort to acknowledge God's unerring law and refute belief in chance, though it may seem like a smooth stone against a Goliath, is a valuable contribution in turning the tide against materialism.