Safe when shots are fired
“Get down!” “Run! “Active shooter!” This is what I heard as I was entering one of the busiest airports in the world. Heart pounding, I ran with everyone else out of the airport and into the parking structure, praying at the same time.
That day I learned that even in the most terrifying of situations, God is there to guide us. And even when we don’t have time to sit down to pray, we can still know that God is always with us, always protecting.
In the Bible, there are a number of accounts of God guiding and preserving His children, even in the direst circumstances. Daniel in the lions’ den, Elisha surrounded by an army, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown in a fiery furnace – each one was guided and protected by turning to God for immediate help.
Like them, we can turn to God in times of trouble. What can help us trust God wholeheartedly is developing a deeper understanding of who we truly are as God’s spiritual reflection.
In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy writes, “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. The Scripture reads: ‘For in Him we live, and move, and have our being’” (p. 361). Referring to “man” in a general spiritual sense that includes everyone, this points to our unchanging unity with God – a relationship that we can confidently recognize and find strength in at any time, even when we seem to be in danger.
I like to think about how direct our relationship to God is in this way, imagining God as symbolized by the sun. All love, joy, and harmony are encompassed in our Father, who is infinite goodness. Each one of us is like an individual ray shining out from God, inseparable from its divine source.
If we picture each of us as emanating from divine Love (or God), we can better understand that our real nature is spiritual. Like those sunbeams radiating forth side by side, we are all in harmony with each other, unable to harm one another – expressing God in joy, peace, kindness, community, and order.
Another of Mrs. Eddy’s works states, “The divine Principle which governs the universe, including man, if demonstrated, is sufficient for all emergencies” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 41).
Principle, another name for God in Christian Science, governs the entire universe with the spiritual law of harmony. This law is unwavering and unchangeable. It cannot be shaken by human circumstances, and it protects us even in scary situations.
Jesus demonstrated this law when he instantly calmed stormy waters. One Bible account says, “He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). Jesus knew, without a doubt, that God governs everything perfectly. We too can trust in God by turning away from fear and distress and cherishing His law of harmony. We then find ourselves guided and guarded.
That was what I experienced at the airport. As I ran and prayed, I mentally embraced man’s complete oneness with God, including me, and even the shooter. I am happy to share that the crisis was resolved harmoniously and handled by the authorities, and no one was seriously injured.
Just like sunbeams and the sun, we can’t be separated from God, or the governing law of Love. We can find the most powerful form of protection by knowing this true spiritual reality and fully trusting God’s care for all.
