Where You Are
If you have ever felt that life seemed harsh, or that you wanted to be in an atmosphere that was kinder and gentler - well, I have some good news for you. You can find love where you are right now.
Love is one of the names for God used in the Holy Bible. In fact, the Bible clearly declares in one place that "God is love" (I John 4:16). And it also tells us that God is everywhere and all-powerful. Then Love, as God, is everywhere and all-powerful. Wherever you are - in your own home town or traveling far away in another country - you are right in the midst of the love of God.
This was the idea that came to me as I was praying to see and feel God's goodness - to understand it more - after a destructive earthquake. I turned to God to show me how to pray for the people who were involved, whom I knew He loved dearly.
The thought suddenly came to me that "Love (God) is all-power." Right where these people were, right there was the love of God. I caught a glimpse for a moment of how God's love fills all space. Even the rubble of a collapsed building could not prevent this love from being present and powerful, able to reach and help those people beneath it. We may never know the specific effect prayer like this has for individual people. But we can be sure it will help both us and them, even if they're far away.
If sometimes it appears to you that hatred, fear, or destruction rules the day, try this: let your thought recognize that right here and now God is still all-powerful; that Love is present even in trying circumstances. God expresses goodness at all times, to all people, in all ways. Recognizing this in thought can change your perspective - and improve your life.
I saw this occur in a smaller experience recently. I had been on the phone, dealing with a bureaucratic organization for over 45 minutes. The treatment I had received ranged from antagonism to indifference. Now, on hold again for the fifth or sixth time, I was feeling frustrated, impatient, and taken advantage of.
I grabbed for a book nearby on my desk, opened it, and began to read words that melted my attitude with God's love. While on hold during those minutes, I was transformed in thought by feeling God's presence. When "the next available representative" came on the line, this time it was different from the outset. We calmly worked out the problem to my satisfaction, in an atmosphere that clearly reflected divine Love.
What was that book? It was "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," written by Mary Baker Eddy. From what I read, I gained a sense of how God's love was governing every circumstance, everywhere, including this very situation. That changed my perspective. Instead of broiling in some phase of hatred, I found myself in an environment that naturally reflected the government of God. "To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love, and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death" (Science and Health, Pg. 567).
Understanding this government of divine Love powerfully changes human situations. It smoothes out the wrinkles of human relationships and provides safety from dangerous environments. It heals physically. Whether we are dealing with disaster on a global scale, or non-life-threatening individual problems like callous indifference, recognizing the presence of God's love is really prayer - prayer that brings solutions. It will enable you to walk through your day with greater peace and poise. And it will enable you to pass through turbulent times feeling safe in the grace that God's love gives each one of us. Love is always right where you are. You are in it!
This is what Paul told the Romans: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For 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" (8:35, 37-39).
