Disaster relief
A tragic event -- rampaging nature, divorce, loss of employment -- often is so overwhelming that it prompts people to throw up their hands and acquiesce to the calamity.
But there's a way to overcome disaster. It is to remove oneself from the scene -- not physically, necessarily, but mentally -- by seeking refuge in an understanding of God as the true preserver of man.
Man is spiritual, created by an all-loving God. God's creation is safe forever, for evil has no place in the divine universe.
Christ Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." n1 Knowing the truth is prayer that acknowledges as fact that man lives and moves only in God's harmonious realm. Such prayer replaces the fear of uncertainty with the assurance that man is safe in God.
n1 John 8:32.
Jesus proved God's love for man. He showed his contemporaries that disaster can be dealt with effectively.
For instance, Jesus proved that weather is incapable of overwhelming us when the Christ-power is applied. This power of the Christ, the true idea of God, is the spiritual influence that blesses human consciousness and action. Jesus quieted the winds and waves on the Sea of Galilee, which had grown so fierce as to make his disciples believe their boat was about to sink. The Bible says he "rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." n2
n2 Matthew 8:26.
Jesus surely understood the ever-presence of God's goodness and the indestructibility of spiritual man. He relied on divine Principle, God -- the source of all law, all harmony -- for his well-being. And he showed the pitfalls involved in depending solely on material means for safety. Mary Baker Eddy n3 writes: "Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life of man. Man's happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense." n4 The law of divine Principle is always available, but we do need to begin understanding it.
n3 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science;
n4 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 304.
As one learns of this divine Principle and its law, he can use it as a support at all times -- especially if a crisis occurs. This law includes the verdicts that God is always in control, that man is God's image, inseparable from Him, and that there is no material law to counteract God's law of harmony.
The realization that harmony is man's natural state buoys thinking, allowing us to be calm and clearheaded in a crisis. In fact, it can settle thought -- our own and even that of those around us -- to such an extent that the physical condition is also subdued.
Thought that reflects God is a powerful pacifier and healer. It leads to constructive action and brings rule relief. DAILY BIBLE VERSE God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Psalms 46:1, 2