They're heard among acquaintances who pass on the street. We read them on notes attached to the refrigerator: "Hi! I'm at ... I'll be back for dinner!" They arrive in letters and on colorful Christmas cards. Often there's more sentiment than substance in the language of everyday greetings. And yet something sweet does come across in those quickly scribbled notes or the cheery wave of a friend. They tell us that relations are warm; that our lives are in order.

Not all greetings, though, are as easy or as comfortable. Attending a social gathering, for instance, and seeing many unfamiliar faces; joining an organization; entering a new class at school. Encounters like these take place every day and can seem trivial in the shadow of larger, more troubling events throughout the world. Still, how we respond to uncomfortable or disturbing situations of a smaller nature can teach us something of the best way to respond to large-scale troubles as well.

When we're reluctant to face others, when we're struggling with timidity or extreme shyness, fear needs to be confronted. Withdrawing from contacts with others as a means of protecting ourselves from being placed in uncomfortable situations—isn't this a fear-based response?

While there are various theories and techniques for tackling such fear—many of which rely on positive thinking—Christian Science encourages us to look beyond the human mind, which is the very basis of the problem, to the one divine Mind—to God Himself—for the remedy. This enables us to remove fear in a spiritual, scientific way.

The Science of Christ helps us see and prove that the one perfect Mind, divine Love, neither includes nor causes fear and that this is our real Mind, the genuine Mind of everyone. Science corrects the fundamentally flawed concept that the life of man is mortal and material, separated from Love and subject to being frightened or harmed.

The healing message of Christianity that eliminates fear is not that creation includes unlikable elements and man can avoid them; rather, it is that God, good, is the sole creator—perfect Spirit and Love—and that He produces nothing unlike Himself, nothing that is discomforting or that would cause fear. There's great reassurance in the words of a writer in the New Testament: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Being less concerned with how we might blend with or combat so many human personalities, and acquainting ourselves more with God, we learn why His offspring is not one of countless, clashing egos; rather, he's an individual and perfect expression of the one Ego, or Mind, including nothing undesirable. Each individual is essential to the complete expression of being. Genuine being is governed by God; His government is universal and expresses His pure nature, as Love.

I was reminded of this stable and gentle governing hand by a tender scene one morning at a busy downtown intersection. A woman was leading a group of preschool children, perhaps twenty of them, hand in hand across the street. Some of them hadn't made it all the way across when the traffic light began to change. Another adult at the end of the line carefully watched over each child as they continued to across. No one was fearful or anxious. Though the light had changed, nothing else had. The cars were still. The children continued to laugh and sing. All the while they obeyed every instruction they were given and were soon on their way along the sidewalk.

Fearlessness isn't just for young children. When we each look to God, trusting and obeying Him, we're cared for too in all that we do. New surroundings, strange faces, unfamiliar activities, don't have to be cause for anxiety. God's perfect government doesn't disappear if we're greeted with something new. Divine wisdom doesn't cease. Intelligence isn't silenced. God's love doesn't turn away. In Miscellaneous Writings Mary Baker Eddy writes: "Divine Love is our hope, strength, and shield. We have nothing to fear when Love is at the helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and in heaven."

Prayer reveals what is always with us. We don't have to wait for circumstances or people to change to open our hearts more to God and experience something of His unchanging, comforting control. It's not a matter of communicating our fears to Him as we pray; instead, we need to yield to the one Mind and listen for its pure healing thoughts, be receptive to the quiet influence of perfect Love, which removes fear.

Healing and saving prayer is based on an honest desire to be spiritually loving and pure—to be the image of God, divine Love. All that would mar this image and prevent us from accepting ourselves and others as truly Godlike is something we can cast out of our consciousness. We can dismiss as illegitimate, for example, any suggestion that narrow-mindedness, self-centeredness, or animosity is a part of an all-good creation. Anything that would draw us away from useful, cooperative relations with others isn't something in man to be feared, but is a lie about man's true nature to be rejected.

This doesn't mean that wisdom isn't necessary in our contacts. But spiritually based reasoning helps us to see others, even people we're meeting for the first time, as they are meant to be seen. In this new, more spiritual light we can feel safe and free to open our thoughts and lives more to others. We won't be timid or shy about reflecting God, divine Love! Whether it's through a greater willingness to be helpful, to offer comfort, instruction, or simply to be a good example, we can look forward to the many precious experiences that await us as we strive to express, and witness, the marvelous good that our creator has freely given to all.

Russ Gerber