Fly with confidence

SOME people eagerly anticipate an airplane flight. Perhaps it's only a routine trip, but to them being high above the earth in that intensely blue sky is exhilarating. It should be that way for all of us. Flying thousands of miles in just a few hours is rather marvelous -- almost like having wings of our own!

That confident joy in flying, however, can certainly be spoiled by fears of emergency landings, missed connections, lost luggage. Yet we don't have to have a resigned expectancy of something going wrong -- not if we have a deep confidence that God, ever-present divine Principle, is always with us. Our understanding of God's controlling presence actually works to rule out disaster, for nothing is ever outside Principle's government.

Although such a statement is absolutely true, in order to experience God's control of our lives we need to gain some understanding of what God is and how to avail ourselves of His goodness. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, ``God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love.''1

God is not someone or something far removed from us. Nor has God made us and then left us to some evil fate. God is divine Principle, perfect, all-knowing Mind, who is wholly good. As the Bible says, ``In him we live, and move, and have our being.''2

You and I are, in actual fact, His offspring, His own creation, spiritual man. Man is not simply what appearances indicate. In spite of physical evidence to the contrary, man is truly God's spiritual expression, the expression of eternal Life, of ever-present Mind, of all-encompassing Love. So wherever we are, God is present, and His unchanging laws are always available for us to rely upon.

Under divine Principle's law, man is not helplessly subject to accident or fate, because God guides all in accord with His direction. As divine Life, God embraces man in His law of eternal, indestructible identity. Science and Health states, ``Life is the everlasting I AM, the Being who was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.''3 And since God is infinite divine Love, His law rules out the possibility of carelessness or hatred in His allness. Love cares for man.

God's infinite laws are always in operation and always applicable to our needs. But to feel so comfortable with spiritual truths that we can relax on a plane trip and feel sure of God's underlying support, we need to live in accord with divine Principle. Christ Jesus pointed to the fact that people who obey God ``see,'' or experience, God's presence in their lives. He said, ``Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.''4

That may seem like a large order -- to be pure enough in heart to see God and His laws at work in our lives. Every effort we make, however, to be unafraid and trust God, to think of others as expressing God, to refuse to believe that accidents and frustrating circumstances are God-sent, draws us closer to divine Prin-ciple -- to the divine Love that includes no disasters, mistakes, loss, or trouble. When God's government is expressed in our thoughts and actions, it's inevitable that we'll recognize His laws operating to bless our lives.

So the next time you fly, know that your obedience to God and trust in Him are a law of protection and peace for you. And enjoy the trip!

1Science and Health, p. 465. 2Acts 17:28. 3Science and Health, p. 290. 4Matthew 5:8.

You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

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