Finding Answers
Did you ever wonder where God was when soldiers were being killed in war; when tornadoes wreaked havoc; when jumbo jets crashed; when famine wiped out huge populations?
One man discovered in the wilderness long ago that God was not in earthquake, wind, or fire, but in "a still small voice" (I Kings 19:12). Doesn't this imagery imply a gentle, loving presence, a concept of God that's unfamiliar to a lot of people? God is the Supreme Being, the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient Principle who is totally good. He never causes disasters - is not in them. But God is always available to heal, save, deliver, when we become consciously aware of His presence.
Of course, it is not enough just to say, "Oh, God is always with me. God is everywhere." We must strive to know it with the deepest conviction, even when it looks very much as if God is absent. "We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul [God], simply because, to the mortal senses, there is seeming discord. It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony" (Mary Baker Eddy, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Pg. 390).
It's a big step forward in finding answers when we begin to see that disasters aren't ever the will of God. Actually, they're consequences of mortal ignorance of God - of His total goodness and control of the universe and man.
"So how can I know God's presence and power?" you might ask. "How can my creator become a living reality? How can I connect myself to divine Love and be safe?" Here is one guideline: "The starting-point of divine Science [the knowledge of God] is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind, - that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle" (Science and Health, Pg. 275). The author of that statement discovered God as He really is - perfect, always existing, but unseen until we develop a more spiritual way of thinking and seeing. An inspired study of the Scriptures, and of the book just quoted, can develop this spiritual sense for us and show us how to defend ourselves from evil.
One thing these books teach is that you are in essence spiritual - the exact image of the divine Spirit. It is in knowing this indestructible relationship with God that you find deliverance from evil in your human life. Understanding and feeling our unity with the eternal comes through enlightened prayer, through thoughtful communion with and acknowledgment of God.
The Lord's Prayer is full of truth and promise about God (see Matt. 6:9-13). Striving to live in obedience to what it says brings us closer to the divine presence. Becoming willing to accept that God loves us, and to express His love, is also important. Listen for ideas from God - for His answers to your heartfelt questions - and you'll find Him communicating with you through that "still small voice." Spiritualization of thought is a gradual, ongoing process.
The actual feeling and knowing of the divine presence is what enlightens, comforts, protects, casts out fear. Gives confidence, brings peace, delivers from evil, liberates. And it is what heals physically.
A woman who was healed of tuberculosis by reading Science and Health wrote: "The first words of the 'spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer,' [see Pg. 16] telling of our Father-Mother God, gave me a glimpse of heavenly light. I stopped and reasoned, and remembered the teachings of Jesus. The truth of man's spiritual being dawned on my consciousness. I realized I was not subject to mortal laws, as I had been taught all my life.... Through Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy had given me what I had longed for all my life, - a Mother, a perfect 'Father-Mother God.'... When I read, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' and its spiritual interpretation, my tears began to flow; all the years of bitterness, hate, and fear melted away. I knew then, as I know now, that nothing satisfies but Love. That day began the outward and inward conscious healing, - mental and physical" (Pgs. 691-692).
