'As one whom his mother comforteth . . .'

The prophet says of God's tender care, ''As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.'' n1 Who of us at times hasn't longed for the kind of loving support a wise parent gives his child? Even though carefree, happy days may be far behind, we don't have to forgo love and comfort.

n1 Isaiah 66:13

Many passages throughout the Bible reveal God as the tender guardian of all. And Christ Jesus, who was ever conscious of God's unfailing care for His children, said, ''He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone.'' n2 The Father's constant, mothering love is still at hand for all who yearn for heavenly help.

n2 John 8;29.

Many who have felt alone and afraid in the face of daily challenges have found strength and healing through the study of Christian Science. Its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: ''Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation. As the apostle expressed it in words which he quoted with approbation from a classic poet: 'For we are also His offspring.' '' n3

n3 Science and Health, p. 333.

Since man is God's offspring, His image, as the Bible reveals, our actual being is spiritual and perfect, continuously reflecting the Father's love. This is true of us all. We're not, then, helpless before disease, lack, sorrow. These discords, which seem so real to fearful, mortal thought, stem from ignorance of man's inseparable relationship to God, divine Love, and are corrected by spiritual understanding.

As Jesus proved repeatedly in his healing work, suffering is no part of God's perfect creation. Rather, it is a phenomenon of the physical senses, much like the bad dream a child has at night - frightening to him, yet not real to the loved one awake at his side. And what comfort the child feels when he wakes up and sees that he is not alone and there is nothing to fear.

Acknowledging man's unity with God, who knows and imparts only good, awakens one to the truth of being. It brings his consciousness into line with the harmony of spiritual perfection, and this mental change brings healing. Even bodily ills disappear before the recognition that God, good, is always present and supreme.

This was my experience one afternoon last winter. I was suddenly overcome with symptoms of a virus. I felt so ill I had to lie down. Realizing my husband wouldn't be home for hours, I found myself thinking, ''Oh, to be about six years old again so my mother could look after me.''

Just then, the Bible quotation at the beginning of this article came to mind, and it brought me the most reassuring sense of God's loving care. I had learned in my study of Christian Science to regard God as an unfailing source of help, whatever the difficulty, so I turned to Him once again. The more I contemplated God's omnipotent care for His offspring and the more gratitude I felt for all the help He had given me through the years, the more peace and well-being I was conscious of. In fact, divine Love's all-encompassing care became so tangible to me that I couldn't have felt better cared for if there had been several mothers in the room! Within half an hour I was up and about again, one hundred percent recovered.

No mother, however loving and devoted she may be, can be present with her child at all times and under every circumstance. But the heavenly Father-Mother, God, can be and is. As children of infinite, divine Love, you and I have continuous access to its unfailing, inexhaustible, exquisitely comforting care. DAILY BIBLE VERSE

Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains;.thy judgements are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy lovingkindness O God! therefore the childrem of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Psalms 36:5-7