‘You have no power over me’

One day I found my home in anguish. The children were complaining, one of them was ill, my wife was too, the mood in the home was gloomy, and I was depressed. I prayed for each individual’s recovery, but with no success.

Then I changed the focus of my prayers. Instead of praying for the recovery of certain family members, I prayed more broadly to understand God’s ever-present and unassailable control over our home. And I began to realize that God, good, was the only legitimate influence over our collective health and well-being.

The effect was dramatic. Gloom lifted and sickness vanished in short order.

I learned a valuable lesson from this experience – namely, that trouble is not always what it appears to be. If a child is feeling sick because he fears facing a bully, the root issue is not the sickness. It’s fear. To succeed in spiritual healing, we have to face the “bully.”

Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, coined a phrase to define the bullying effect of evil. She called it “malicious animal magnetism.” It designates the multitude of ways, whether hidden or overt, that would stop health, life, and peace from being the norm.

As ominous as this bully may seem, it is not a power to fear. It’s something to be exposed and proved illegitimate, for God’s goodness and love are limitless and eternal.

Jesus Christ faced the untiring malice of those who were jealous, envious, and afraid of the impact of his healing ministry. They were constantly plotting his demise. But Jesus was not afraid of his adversaries. He knew that his life was preserved forever in divine Spirit. The Bible shows how Jesus faced all forms of evil with the same attitude: “You have no power over me.” The credibility of this stance was immortalized when he walked out of the tomb alive after his crucifixion.

Mary Baker Eddy faced malicious threats when she presented Christian Science to the world. But she learned not to fear evil, but to face it straight on and neutralize it through the all-powerful divine Love, God, she worshiped.

One time a would-be assassin slipped into her room. She recounted that before he entered, she became aware of impending danger and at first thought she should lock her door. But she decided cowering in fear wasn’t a permanent solution. She left the door open. The man entered the room, pointed a gun at her, and was met with a response of “You cannot shoot.” His arm became useless, as though paralyzed, and he left. His evil intent was instantly disarmed (see Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend Warneck, “Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer,” Amplified Edition, p. 301).

Mrs. Eddy didn’t ignore the man or pretend that he didn’t exist. She faced her foe with absolute confidence in the power of Love to protect her and stop him. She took the right steps and won a victory for righteousness.

The notion that evil has valid power must be fearlessly countered, not ignored. “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed,” Jesus promised (Luke 12:2). Evil is not a counter-power to God. Within God, the divine Mind, there are no destructive powers or influences. All is good. Understanding, even just a little, God’s nature as ever-present good empowers us to realize and experience a fuller freedom, safety, and peace.

In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mrs. Eddy wrote, “To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love, and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death. Against Love, the dragon warreth not long, for he is killed by the divine Principle. Truth and Love prevail against the dragon because the dragon cannot war with them” (p. 567). Malicious animal magnetism is the dragon that divine Truth and Love prove powerless. Armed with divine Truth, each of us can fearlessly face the dragon, in whatever form it may take, with the conviction, “You have no power over me!”

Adapted from an article published in the November 2011 issue of The Christian Science Journal.

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