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Protected from the effects of accident

No matter what kind of circumstance we may be facing, God is here to inspire, protect, and heal – as a woman experienced when a kitchen stove mishap quickly turned dangerous.

  • By Karen Neff

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
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Is it reasonable to look to God for protection and healing in our daily lives?

I discovered that it is, and with good results, one day after setting a pan of water with a pat of butter in it on the stove to simmer. I stepped away and when I returned, the water had evaporated and the kitchen was filled with smoke. I picked up the pan and carried it outside. Without thinking, I lifted the lid off, and the remaining butter burst into flames that covered my face, neck, and arm and set my shirt on fire.

As I dropped the pan and patted the flames out, I felt surprisingly calm. Above all, I felt grateful for inspiring ideas that had come to me during my prayer and spiritual study earlier that day. They had helped me realize that our loving Father-Mother, God, protects and preserves us from anything that would seem to go against our identity as God’s children, spiritual and whole.

Evidence contrary to that spirituality and wholeness is understood in Christian Science to be an aggressive mental suggestion, because God, perfect Love, could never make or allow anything that could injure, impair, or harm. God’s creation is the outcome of God’s own perfection; God’s children enjoy the perpetual safety of His blessings, which keep us exempt from danger, and in which no one is at the mercy of sudden, untoward experiences. Accidents can’t occur in the infinite realm of divine Love, where we are enveloped, enfolded, and encompassed in God’s care. Psalm 91 calls this “the secret place of the most High” (verse 1).

This spiritual reality is the basis for rejecting as legitimate any seeming effects from an accident. God has given us dominion over whatever would seem to contradict the spiritual reality. The Christ, God’s healing truth and love that Jesus demonstrated, empowers us to demonstrate this.

This understanding was my authority to take a strong, spiritual stand and claim my exemption from harm even when the situation was flaring up in my face. I felt fortified by divine Truth. Although there were burns on my skin, I felt no pain.

“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, describes how to apply this approach of overcoming an apparent impact from accidents based on understanding the divine reality of our being: “Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why, and you will find the ensuing good effects to be in exact proportion to your disbelief in physics, and your fidelity to divine metaphysics, confidence in God as All, which the Scriptures declare Him to be” (p. 397). As I silently prayed, my confidence in the allness of God, good, grew. The pinkness of the skin was already fading, and I was able to finish preparing dinner as if nothing had happened. And very soon, my skin showed no trace of the accident.

The Bible says of God, “Before they call, I will answer” (Isaiah 65:24). This experience has inspired me to pray more assiduously for others who find themselves caught in harmful circumstances that seem beyond their control. How grateful I am to know that the same love of God that helped me is here to help everyone. It’s heartening to know that God, Love itself, is always present to inspire in us the ideas that lead us to safety and guide us effectively.

We can all follow Christ Jesus’ example of turning consistently and wholeheartedly to God for rescue and healing, whatever the need.

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