No Matter Where

THROUGHOUT the Bible, we read of God's care for His dear children, no matter where they may be. We are God's children, and God is with us everywhere, no matter where we are!

God's care is just as available today, as a friend of mine found while he was in the Navy. His plane had just taken off when its engine failed and the plane went down into the ocean. Navy personnel on the shore were able to reach the spot within minutes. Although a Navy diver went down several times, he couldn't get my friend out of the plane. Even though it was time for the rescue mission to be called off, the diver wanted to try once more. He was able to pull my friend out of his boots and so free him. When my friend regained consciousness, he said he had felt God's presence with him as the plane was going down and that he was sure it was God who had saved him.

That reassuring Bible promise we find in the book of Psalms was surely kept in the experience of my friend: ``Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 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'' (139:7-10).

Man cannot be separated for an instant from God. When we turn to Him in time of trouble and ask for guidance, He always answers our prayer. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, tells us in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that God and His reflection, man, are inseparable. She points out in one place: ``But man cannot be separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God'' (p. 306). It is our realization of our oneness with God that holds us safe in His arms.

In the book of John the Bible tells us that Christ Jesus always felt his oneness with his Father-Mother God. There we read Jesus' words ``I and my Father are one'' (10:30).

We can always call on God for our help, no matter where we are. Mrs. Eddy points out in Science and Health: ``As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so God and man, Father and son, are one in being'' (p. 361). Man, made in the image and likeness of God, is one with Him who is man's life.

Several years ago, when my son was a soldier engaged in a war thousands of miles from home, he injured his arm quite severely. His letters told me that the situation was worsening--to the point that there had been talk of his losing the arm. I knew that because he was so far away, the only way I could help him was for me to pray and to apply the truths I had been learning and using from my study of Christian Science, the truth of God and of man's relationship to him.

I turned to God in prayer and asked for guidance. Immediately came a comforting message assuring me that my son was not far away from home, that he had never been separated from God and never could be, that he had never been out of the kingdom of heaven, therefore he had gathered to himself nothing unlike God. What peace this message brought to me! I continued to pray, maintaining man's unbroken unity with God--my son's unbroken unity with Him. I claimed man's coexistence with God. I felt confident that all was well. Soon another letter came, letting me know that my son was out of the hospital and doing fine. He said he realized that Christian Science had healed him. Again we had witnessed God's tender loving care for His dear children. Yes, God is with us everywhere.