Divine protection

WALKING along a city sidewalk, we suddenly see two people in front of us begin to argue heatedly. We see tempers flare out of control, and voices grow loud and aggressive. How can we be of help? We may be tempted to become anxious. Instead, we can become a law to ourselves, and we can let this law govern all that comes to our thought. To be a law to ourselves is not to accept as the reality of life anything but what God has created--and all He has truly created expresses the harmony of His nature. To be a law to ourselves is to be immovable in our understanding of God's supremacy and of the healing influence of His ever-regenerating Christ. This understanding enables us to look beyond the outward appearance, which may seem so disheartening and unbudging. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul says that nothing can separate us from the care of God, divine Love. He writes, ``I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'' 1 When faced with anger and hatred, we can, like Paul, realize that nothing can alienate us from the presence of God's love. A number of years ago I had an experience that opened my eyes to God's constant care. Late one night in an urban area I found myself surrounded by a large group of young men. They were reacting at the time to racial tension, and their anger turned toward me. I had just left an auditorium and was walking toward the parking area when they encircled me. All that came to my thought at that moment was the fact that divine Love has no opposite side. This truth filled my consciousness, and all fear disappeared. Suddenly, I was poked in the back. When I turned around, a man hit me in the face with his fist. The blow was not felt, nor did I move at all. It was if I had been tapped with a balloon. The young man who hit me looked me in the eye for a moment and then walked away. The group dispersed, along with the anger and danger. I saw that divine protection can be proved when our thoughts are embracing the Christlike love that touches with care and compassion all we meet. God neither creates nor condones anger or hatred. When faced with a conflict, we can realize, through prayer, that in the presence of the Love that is God there can be no hatred. And Love is actually the only cause, power, and presence. Understanding and holding to this Christlike perception isn't wishful thinking but a powerful remedy that can eliminate the cause for aggression or hatred. Prayer can bring to light something of the uninterrupted harmony of things under God's government. To realize that in the final analysis evil is neither person nor place--as radical as that may seem--helps to reveal man's true, Godlike selfhood and attributes to God the allness that is supremely His. The importance of knowing how to be a law to ourselves is found throughout the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. In one place she says, ``Every man and woman should be to-day a law to himself, herself,--a law of loyalty to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.'' 2 We do have the God-derived ability to see error as no part of God or of man's true nature, as having no actual identity, no matter how prominent it seems. We can recognize the opposite of a particular evil and hold to that truth. But most important, we should understand that infinite Truth, God, knows no opposite. Then we are free to respond to Love's divine law instead of reacting to evil. Realizing the truth of God's law enables us all to become a law to ourselves. This is our divine protection. 1 Romans 8:38, 39. 2 Miscellaneous Writings, p. 12.