The other day I was talking to a woman who told me about a day trip she was planning. Driving to another city to visit a friend is something she has done many times. But these days the woman takes a passenger with her "because of all the incidents we hear about on television and in the newspapers," she told me.

Must you and I learn to live with uneasiness, insecurity? Do we have to give in to fear for our well-being, for the well-being of those we love? Fortunately no, because there is a reliable source of protection. Peace of mind and freedom of action are the result of understanding God's ever-presence and man's inseparability from God.

For centuries, men and women in dangerous situations have turned to the Bible for promises of God's care. We all have this assurance by understanding the divine Science that underlies these promises. For example, Psalm 139 declares God's unbounded "everywhereness": "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (verses 7–10). And here's another promise: "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders" (Deut. 33:12).

To comprehend the marvelous fact of man's unity with God, good, enables one to experience His omnipotent care whatever the circumstance may be. No one is ever outside the sphere of divine Love's protecting, saving influence. As Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Existence, separate from divinity, Science explains as impossible" (p. 522).

The five physical senses report that we're not always in God's presence, that we can find ourselves beyond His help. But Christian Science maintains the opposite view. Man is spiritual, the beloved child of his Maker, divine Mind, never for a moment separated from God's all-encompassing care. God's child is neither the victim nor the perpetrator of harmful acts. This is true of each of us!

God is the only power—the all-wise, all-directing, and all-seeing divine Mind. You and I (and everyone else in the world) are actually God's offspring, and so we must all continuously reflect His control. Understanding God's universal Government counteracts fear.

God maintains us in perfect relation to Himself. And to each other. Knowing this helps us stay out of the range of accident or conflict, and in fact, it helps prevent such situations. As stars fixed in their courses move harmoniously, so the ideas of God, Spirit, move harmoniously in His orbits. God's orbits are spiritual, as are the movements of His ideas. The motion and action of God's creation are, in fact, the reflection and expression of Truth, Life, and Love.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible" (p. 514). In God's orderly, benign universe there can be no accidents, uncertainties, collisions. No disruption of man's God-maintained harmony can exist where the forces of Spirit are ever at work maintaining perpetual poise, safety, and divinely ordered activity.

The Master, Christ Jesus, had the absolute conviction of being inseparable from his Father, our Father. This so thoroughly governed his thoughts and actions that he was able to demonstrate dominion over daily events. Jesus said, "He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone" (John 8:29). Nor does the Father ever leave any one of us alone, unprotected. God's wonderful care is at hand now and in all of our travels.