Preventing accidents

TO what do we attribute accidents-haste? carelessness? an act of Providence? susceptibility to chance? a theory of probability? Actually, we can do better than guess the cause of them or blame their occurrence on uncontrollable circumstances. We can learn to reduce vulnerability to accidents. Many have found this possible through a deeper understanding of God's protective power.

The Bible assures us, ''God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.'' n 1 Peace is the result of harmony, and true harmony is the law of God. Submitting to that law through prayer and purity of thought aligns our life with the divine order of His presence. This increases our freedom from discord, allays accident-prone fears, lessens our belief in probability and chance. In all, we gain greater dominion over our environment.

n1 I Corinthians 14:33.

Christ Jesus invoked the law of God to still a stormy sea, which the disciples feared would drown them. He proved that the spiritual might of divine law has potential far beyond human resources.

Once I found myself driving rapidly down a narrow country road, irritated at someone for not having arranged earlier to meet me. With every vexed thought I increased my speed. It was dark, the road was hilly, and I couldn't see more than fifty feet ahead. Emotion momentarily outweighed reason.

Yet I had learned to turn to God with such struggles. This led me to consider how foolish it was to suffer from an ungodlike view of someone when I was fully capable of enjoying the peace that comes from acknowledging God's government of man, and man's actual nature as His likeness.

I began to pray, affirming the presence of harmony as the expression of divine law, while rejecting whatever thoughts did not take this law into account. The emotionalism quickly drained away. My thinking completely cleared. At that point I felt a strong impulsion to pull the car off the road. There was no apparent explanation for this, as I saw no danger and was sure I was alone on the road. Also, it was difficult to pull over because the car was big and there was no shoulder on which to park. But accepting the impulsion as one of God's harmonizing directives, I pulled off anyway.

The moment I did, two oncoming cars shot over the hill just ahead, wheel to wheel. They filled both lanes as they passed with not a foot to spare. Everyone was saved from a head-on collision.

The safety that comes from understanding God's protective power includes more than periodic avoidance of calamity, however important that may prove to be. By consistently guarding the citadel of our thinking, letting in only those thoughts that represent the divine law of harmony, we can experience safety while carrying out the routine of a normal day, wherever we are, whatever we're doing.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes: ''Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.'' n2 Elsewhere she says, ''Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.'' n3

n2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 261

n3 Ibid., p. 424.

This spiritual defense benefits not only us but all those who enter our atmosphere of thought. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Trust in the Lord with all thine heart....In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be notwise in thine own eyes:fear the Lord, and depart from evil....The Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:5-7,26