Air safety -- law, not luck

"Good luck" said the sign held aloft by a striking air traffic controller. The implication was clear: safety in the skies was endangered; only "luck" would protect passengers without the regular controllers on duty.

Are those of us who travel by air these days really risking our safety? Or is our safety under the control of a higher power, God Himself?

It is, of course, proper that those whose jobs make them responsible for safety in the skies should take needed precautions. But passengers, indeed all of us, have a role to play, too. Our first step can be to stop making a god out of "luck." Our safety -- in the air, on the ground, on the water -- is assured by divine law. It's the result of God's benevolent, constant care.

The Psalmist asked of the Lord: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" And he acknowledged, "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." n1

n1 Psalms 139:7-10

God's control is unfailing, because it's the very reality of being, though unseen to the physical senses. An understanding of this protects both us and others -- as illustrated in the experience of a woman whose work sometimes required long stretches of driving alone.

Before one trip she felt impelled to recognize more fully that she was always safe in God's eternal, unchanging embrace. There was no foreboding in her acknowledgment that the law of God supersedes supposed material laws. She felt only joy in her growing understanding that God governs and that there is no room in the universe of His creating for something to endanger any of His beloved children.

On a 200-mile stretch of road there were only two service stations close together at midpoint. She had passed one of them when it suddenly became obvious her car wasn't functioning properly. The second station was nearby. Luck?

As she pulled into the service station the car's engine began to whine very loudly. Because the attendant was serving another customer, he was unable to help immediately. The driver turned off the engine; in a moment, a glass radiator bottle exploded under the hood. The driver and attendant exchanged grateful looks that he hadn't been leaning over the engine when it happened. Luck again?

Not luck. Law. And soon the woman was safely on her way. She had experienced the protection of God's law of good as proved and taught throughout Biblical history, especially to Christ Jesus. Jesus wasn't lucky; he was lawful. He said he had come to fulfill the law. Living under God's law, he found safety through every untoward circumstance.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, writes, "The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science." n2

n2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 494.

Let's use every flight we take as an opportunity to flee from any human convictions we may harbor about the weather or the plane, about ourselves and others (including the health and ability of mechanics, pilots, and air traffic controllers).

We can instead seek safety in God's law and government of the universe, knowing that He is in control not only where we are but where we're going. Nothing can thwart God's constant care. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Psalms 119:117