Stilling the storm-- a divine possibility

HAVE you ever felt helpless before what appeared to be an impending danger; perhaps a physical, financial, or environmental threat set on a relentless course? Once, during a transatlantic crossing, I watched rather apprehensively certain preparations being made for passenger safety because of an imminent tropical hurricane headed toward our ship. I turned quite naturally to the Bible and to the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy,1 for reassurance and freedom from fear. In the quiet of my cabin I listened in prayer for the specific spiritual truths needed in this situation. It soon became very clear to me that evil, in the form of a senseless, unstoppable act of nature, didn't, in reality, have a point of origin, since God, omnipresent good, fills all space. Therefore all force must inevitably be beneficent, not deadly; spiritual, not material. As the Bible declares: ``God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.'' 2 And here is a correlative insight from Science and Health: ``The material so-called gases and forces are counterfeits of the spiritual forces of divine Mind, whose potency is Truth, whose attraction is Love, whose adhesion and cohesion are Life, perpetuating the eternal facts of being.'' 3 Apprehending divine concepts enabled me to see all force as originating in good, not evil, and as always under the control of divine intelligence. I could understand that the true purpose of all things is to show forth God's meticulous care, His perpetual goodness, bestowing life, not death, on all His creation. Despite appearances, all genuine power is spiritual good, because all true power emanates from God, Spirit. Christ Jesus exercised the power of his spirituality to still the storm, causing his disciples to say, ``What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.'' When they feared for their lives, the Master asked, ``Where is your faith?'' 4 One might ask himself, ``Is my faith in God, as the one supreme, irreversible good?'' Jesus proved by his healing works that man as God's image and likeness reflects divine dominion and is not subject to unmanageable happenings beyond his control. Jesus showed that no power exists apart from Spirit, where man actually lives, moves, and has his being.5 Didn't the Master discern the universe in its true nature, manifesting all the attributes of God, including gentleness, order, safety, harmony? The so-called forces of nature must give way to the authority of the divine nature exemplified in the Christliness of daily living; inherent in spiritual individuality as demonstrated by Christ Jesus as the perfect model for all mankind. As the prophet Isaiah said, ``The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.'' 6 I left my cabin with the spiritual conviction that others were also praying and that in the allness of God, good, evil is simply nonexistent, as radical as that thought may seem. Later I watched as the safeguards were removed. The hurricane had turned in another direction and had dissipated much farther out at sea storms too can be faced with the conviction of God's omnipresence, even the small and sometimes violent storms that seem to arise in family and business relationships. Misunderstandings, resentment, and hurt feelings brew. But they can be corrected through prayer that springs from a spiritual understanding of God's government and supreme power. His goodness is the only true force, well able to silence the storms of human life and to establish calm. 1 The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. 2 Psalms 46:1, 2. 3 Science and Health, p. 293. 4 Luke 8:25. 5 See Acts 17:28. 6 Isaiah 32:17.