Safe from terror

``IF you do go, be careful. There are reports of threats by terrorist groups.'' This was the advice friends gave my husband and me when they learned we were planning to attend an international event in another country. We too had seen the articles which speculated that this event would be marred by terrorist activities. We knew we could not ignore these remarks or simply go with an attitude of bravado. That would be foolish. We decided to pray. We knew that it was our trust in God's protection that was most important. If it was God's direction we were following and His power we were trusting, we would experience His care for us wherever we were.

Our conviction that we could trust God came both from our own experience in turning to Him and from our study of Christian Science, which teaches that God is a God of love, who cares for His creation.

Surely David had ample reason to feel terrorized. The Bible tells us that some time after he had returned victorious from his battle with Goliath, King Saul was filled with jealousy and tried to kill him. Saul even tried to turn his own son--David's best friend, Jonathan-- against David. But despite Saul's relentless determination to kill David, he was unsuccessful. David's protection lay in his constant looking to God in order to do God's will.

On more than one occasion David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but he refused to do so. He told those with him, ``Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?''1

David continued to be safe, and eventually, after Saul's death, he became king. Those who turn to God in prayer and strive to do God's will in their daily lives can find the same protection David experienced. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes: ``Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited.''2

Good thoughts are a sure defense because they derive from God, from the one divine Mind, the only genuine source of protection. God-derived thoughts are natural to us, because man is the reflection of infinite intelligence. In reality all individuals have one Mind, one God, and this Mind never causes evil. To identify our fellow beings as they are in truth, as reflecting this Mind, helps to uncover and disarm any evil intentions. It helps in some degree to unite humanity in the bond of brotherhood.

After praying about our attendance at the international event and listening for God's direction, my husband and I agreed we would go. We had a long transatlantic flight and several days in another country before we attended this event. Each time we thought of the event, we made sure we were acknowledging that God, Mind, alone was directing and controlling man and that everyone participating and attending was, in truth, safe in His care.

Our time at the event was a happy one. Though there were extra security precautions, the atmosphere was relaxed and completely free from tension and fear. Nothing that had been predicted took place. We knew that many individuals had been praying about this occasion, and we were grateful to see this proof that Mind does control and protect its creation.

Those who find they must go into areas thought to be dangerous can go peacefully as they wholeheartedly trust God's government. Knowing God as Mind, as everyone's true source of thought, they can expect to be safe.

1I Samuel 26:9. 2The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 210. DAILY BIBLE VERSE I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer they foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Psalms 121:1-3