Victim of Chance?

WAITING for my daughter before we left on an errand, I leafed through a children's magazine of hers. A column with questions from readers caught my eye. I was particularly interested in one letter and the editor's reply.A young reader was concerned about earthquakes, especially about predictions that the "big one could hit at any time with potential for great loss of life. The reader felt very afraid of being killed in an earthquake. The columnist responded by explaining to her that the chances of being killed in a car accident were much greater than the chances of being killed in an earthquake. I did not find that a particularly reassuring answer, myself. It seemed to me that such an answer wouldn't lessen anyone's fear because it ignored the underlying concern. Isn't the underlying question really "How can we be safe from harm? When we're frightened by unpredictable catastrophes, isn't it because we wonder "Is there anything we can do to outwit chance, or are we its helpless victims? The belief in chance has its foundation in a belief in the changeableness and uncertainty of life itself--a belief that life is composed of a mixture of good and evil. Such a mistaken belief leads to feelings of helplessness, of vulnerability, of the possibility of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we find that these fears aren't legitimate when we realize that there is a law of God we can rely on to keep us safe. God, not chance, must be seen to govern us. God directs man's life. As we become consciously aware of this law and understand that it is operating in our lives, we see that we are not helpless. Christ Jesus taught that God, eternal Life, loves and cares for all His children. Jesus says in Matthew, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Our Father, God, loves each of us dearly. His care for each of us is unending. He watches over us and keeps us safe. He is omnipotent, supreme, unchallenged by any other power . This is a law of life to man. As we see that we are governed each moment of every day by this law, we will find our fears diminishing and we will see how to be free from harm. The fear of some chance happening that might disrupt our lives, of the possibility of being touched by evil of any kind, is never God's will for man. God does not authorize or cause cruel or harmful circumstances. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discover and Founder of Christian Science, writes in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "God is the lawmaker, but He is not the author of barbarous codes. In infinite Life and Love there is no sickness, sin, nor death, and the Scriptures declare that we live, move, and have our being in the infinite God. How crucial it is to know that God is infinite Life, to know that man is safe in Him. God governs all existence, being, life. Chance or material circumstance is powerless to destroy being. It cannot touch God, Life, or Life's idea, man. Individuality is deathless, spiritual. And because our genuine being is spiritual, it is never obliterated or lost; it can never be destroyed by earthquake, accident, or any other evil. Such spiritual understanding undermines fatalism and brings freedom and reform. As we understand God's omnipotence and goodness more fully, we feel the assurance that His law is operating in our lives each moment without fail, keeping each and every one safe always.