One day when I was in a store, a little boy near me started to cry and called for his mother. She came quickly to comfort him. She was shopping at a counter only a few steps away, but the little fellow had moved to where he couldn't see her. This made him feel separated from her. She must have understood his fear, for she lovingly assured him that she had always been near and had been caring for him.

Losing sight of his mother must have made the little boy afraid of what might happen to him. At times we each may feel as though we are separated from our Father-Mother God just because we can't see Him. Yet we can learn through Christian Science how to feel close to God and thereby allay fear. God, Spirit, is everywhere, including where you are. And He loves, protects, guides, and cares for all who seek His help.

How close are we to God? The Bible quotes the Apostle Paul as saying, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." ^{Acts 17:28.} That's how close everyone is to God; we all actually live in Him. But where is there any room for man if God is All and everywhere, as the Bible and Christian Science teach? The answer is, God includes spiritual man. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy declares, "Omnipotent and infinite Mind made all and includes all." ^{Science and Health, p. 206.}

Material illustrations of inclusion can only hint at the nature of God's inclusion of spiritual man. But let's consider some. If you speak of the sun, your listener knows you really mean "the sun including its emanations, the sun's rays," even though the rays have not been mentioned. Again, if you speak of the rule of addition "five plus three equals eight," your listener knows you really mean "five plus three, including all its expressions—all the five-plus-three pencils, apples, birds—equals eight."

Why shouldn't we be just as sure about the all-inclusiveness of God when we think about Him? When someone says "God," shouldn't we understand it to imply God, who includes His spiritual expression, man, even though man is not mentioned? God's synonym Love really means Love that includes man, its individual expression, reflecting all spiritual, Lovelike attributes. Spiritual man's inclusion can be applied to God's other synonyms also; not in any fixed or formulaic form, but in God-inspired ways that fit the occasion.

A merely intellectual perception that God is so close He actually includes us in Him could hardly be expected to allay much fear. We need also to draw closer to God in everyday living, to become more Godlike in our natures. Christian Science shows us how. We become closer to divine Spirit as we study to understand and enjoy more of Spirit's purity and satisfaction in good and reject as unworthy and untrue whatever would adulterate us physically or morally through degrading temptations. We become closer to divine Mind as we strive to express more of its wisdom—for instance, as we act less impulsively and respond more intelligently because we know that God governs and that the law of Life permits no element of chance. We become closer to divine Truth as we realize more of Truth's allness, thereby being better able to heal disease, anger, and other lies about man. By becoming closer to God in every aspect of our thinking and living, we feel closer to Him and have less fear.

Christ Jesus called such spiritual activity in his own life doing "those things that please him [God]." And he showed that living this way made him fully conscious that God was with him. He said, "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." ^{John 8:29.} Christ Jesus' followers feel close to God by pleasing Him. This is often called "reflecting God" in Christian Science. Jesus described his spiritual activity of pleasing God as being exactly like God's activity. Wasn't he describing a reflection? Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." ^{John 5:19.}

Science and Health, the textbook of Christian Science, compares spiritual man's perfect reflecting of God to the reflection in a mirror. The textbook states: "A picture in the camera or a face reflected in the mirror is not the original, though resembling it. Man, in the likeness of his Maker, reflects the central light of being, the invisible God. As there is no corporeality in the mirrored form, which is but a reflection, so man, like all things real, reflects God, his divine Principle, not in a mortal body." ^{Science and Health, p. 305.}

Suppose some fear of the future threatens to become today's big problem—what should we do? First, we need the right viewpoint, God's viewpoint. Neither a threatening problem nor the fear of it is real or can exist in God's reality. Fear and false belief are not a something. They are a seeming absence of God and His manifestation, man. And like the darkness of night that vanishes in the light from the morning sun, these errors dissolve in the light of Truth. What we need, then, to protect us from the apparently threatening difficulty is our faithful persistence in reflecting the light of divine Truth. We need to persist in declaring, realizing, and living the allness of God, Spirit, good—including His expression—right where the threat of evil seems to be developing. This immediately alleviates the fear, and what remains, if any, will disappear as we continue to realize the allness of God, good, and to seek and follow His guidance.

Years ago, in the midst of a business depression, I quit my job and went to a bigger city to find a place where I could progress further in my profession. All I could find after days of searching was a job that offered so little pay, my wife and I would hardly have been able to meet expenses. I asked my prospective employer, however, to hold the position for me until quarter to five that afternoon, when I would give him my final decision.

Praying to God for guidance, I was impelled to look further for a job that would better meet our needs and provide greater opportunities for serving God and mankind, though only the afternoon was left for looking. My big fear was that the afternoon didn't give me enough time, and that even with more time I might not be able to find anything better. The fear was only partly quieted by my declaring and trying to realize the allness of God, Spirit, good, and the fact that I reflected the completeness of His goodness. But I continued working with spiritual truths anyway, while depending on God to guide me. A little after four o'clock I found and was given a completely satisfying job that paid me about three times as much as the other job had offered.

The fear that remained after my initial efforts to know the truth didn't have the power to prevent healing, when I had done my part. The healing was another indication of God's all-power and His great love for all His children. It made me feel closer to God—a feeling anyone can attest to who has been spiritually led to the solution of a problem so important and difficult.

Whatever we do in Christian Science that corrects the false beliefs of material existence and recognizes man's Spirit-reflecting goodness, helps us feel more of Spirit's presence, which allays fear of the future. As we struggle to grow spiritually, it is comforting to remember that not only is God helping us but also, in spiritual fact, He includes us. We exist here and now as ideas of divine Mind, not in a mortal body but in our Father-Mother God, where we are safe, cared for, loved, and satisfied—forever.