Safe in God's care

I MUST have been thinking about something else at the time. So often I have taken the heavy roasting pan out of the oven and then lifted the lid off in such a way that the hot steam went harmlessly into the air. But this time I lifted the lid so that the jet of hot vapor shot up onto my wrist. I put the lid down and immediately turned my thoughts away from the area that was hurting to what I knew would enable me best to deal with the situation --I turned to the one God. As a Christian Scientist I had been healed of many physical difficulties through spiritual means and fully expected healing of this trouble.

I knew that God was looking after every aspect of my being, because He is ceaselessly caring for all His creation. We are told in Genesis that God made man in His own image. And Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, says, ``The divine Mind that made man maintains His own image and likeness.'' 1

Over the years I had come to think of God as Mind, a term for Deity implied in the Bible. And I had thought of man, of our true identity, as the image, or idea, of Mind. Although it is generally believed that man and the whole of creation are material, I had accepted the teaching of Christian Science that they are spiritual because the creator Himself is Spirit, as the Scriptures tell us. I had had many proofs that a perception of this absolute truth brings healing.

So, standing there in the kitchen, I quietly realized that nothing harmful could happen to a spiritual idea--or indeed had happened--and that I could therefore safely trust God's care. It was not my responsibility to manipulate matter in some way but to be grateful to God, to know that He is the only power and that He maintains the spiritual perfection of His likeness. This would bring healing.

I carried on with preparing the meal. The pain left at some point without my noticing. At no time then, or in the days immediately following, did I look at the area of skin. I wasn't ignoring the trouble or simply hoping that it would go away. I was leaving its care to God, putting the whole weight of my thought in the scale of Spirit rather than matter.

A few days later, though, I did notice the trouble. It seemed hard to believe that the area could ever return to normal. However, I was not appalled; I knew that the truths I was holding in thought were the healing facts about the situation and were eternally true. I held firmly to this statement of Mrs. Eddy's: ``All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal.'' 2

Time went by, and when I next noticed the area, the skin was smooth but a little pink.

Some months later my son said he had burned his hand. I said, ``I burned my wrist some time ago, and look at it now.'' He eagerly looked, but there was not the faintest trace of the trouble. I was very grateful to be able in this way to help him toward his healing, which soon took place.

The general belief is that man is made of matter and can be harmed. But truly he is spiritual and eternally kept safe and perfect by God. This truth, when firmly held in thought, when clearly realized, brings healing. Christ Jesus told his disciples, ``If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.'' 3

1 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 151. 2 Ibid. 3 Matthew 17:20. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust . . . I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. Psalms 16:1, 8, 9

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