Prayer and nuclear challenges

IN light of the recent nuclear power plant accident in the Soviet Union it is more important than ever to remember that there is a power greater than any material force that may be unleashed. That mighty power is God. While we may shudder at the apparent power of radioactive gases to cause harm to people and lands, we needn't feel defenseless. God is our defense, and to turn to Him for help is not a naive or unrealistic step to take but an eminently wise one. Caring people around the world can help mightily through prayer in the wake of a nuclear accident. Prayer relating to this issue is much needed, regardless of the dimensions of a particular incident. God, almighty, omnipresent Love, does not cause or sanction suffering. Through out the Bible we're told of God's loving presence and of His power to deliver His people from devastating situations. From the standpoint of physical science a cloud of radiation may pose an inescapable threat. Fears may try to crowd in and make us wonder how prayer can help. In the Bible, Eliphaz says to Job: ``Snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee.... And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?''1

God knows the well-being of what He created--the spiritual reality of man in His likeness. And we can help bring this reality to light through prayer, through realizing that man is safe in His care.

In the depths of our communion with God we need wholeheartedly to acknowledge that He is indeed almighty and good and that there is nothing that can thwart the power of His love for His creation. We might well acknowledge that since God is Spirit, as the Bible teaches, His creation, including man, is actually spiritual, indestructible. It is subject to spiritual laws alone--laws of health and eternal well-being. When we stick with such spiritual facts, our praying is powerful to offset the aggressive view of man as a biological organism exposed to a poisonous atmosphere, unable to do anything about it.

It's important for us to recognize that such prayer isn't mere positive thinking. If it's imbued with the spirit of Christ, it's a mighty healing influence. It's scientific, in the truest sense of that term. Christian Science encourages us to grow in our understanding of Christianity as Christ Jesus practiced it. Certainly the age needs--and is able to glimpse more of--the reality of Spirit, God, and the reliability of scientific spiritual laws to protect and defend us.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes reassuringly, ``The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but from bodily suffering.''2

If we keep fearlessly holding to the omnipotence of Spirit, of the one Mind, fear must recede and so must the threat of harm. The spiritual radiation of divine power counteracts the material elements that would cause suffering. It blesses, heals, purifies.

We can never truly be outside of the light of omnipotent Mind. ``In Science there is no fallen state of being; for therein is no inverted image of God, no escape from the focal radiation of the infinite,'' writes Mrs. Eddy. ``Hence the unreality of error, and the truth of the Scripture, that there is `none beside Him.'''3

The proliferation of this conviction will help over the short and long term. Sickness and suffering are never inevitable, because God is All. Knowing His allness is far from wishful thinking. It's potent prayer that heals; that brings us into a greater bond of spiritual unity and brotherhood, which can bridge loss and tragedy and build a more secure world.

Every prayer is a mighty aid in mankind's journey to finding answers, to finding hope and help. ``God be merciful unto us,'' the Psalmist prayed, ``and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.''4

1Job 22:10, 13. 2Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 387. 3No and Yes, p. 17. 4Psalms 67:1, 2. DAILY BIBLE VERSE The Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. Psalms 94:22