Safety From Accidents

ON average, I drive slightly over twenty thousand miles a year. As part of my work while I am traveling, I spend time praying specifically to recognize the total government of God in man's life. Prayer has helped me to see this time on the road as a continuing opportunity to follow Christ Jesus' command that we love our neighbors as ourselves. As I reach out in prayer to know that God is governing each facet of my life, I also include my fellow travelers in that prayer. When I do my best to listen toGod's guidance, I find that I'm a more alert driver. My prayer requires me to love my neighbor actively. Such prayer has been helpful on many occasions. One morning there seemed to be an unusual number of accidents reported, and I prayed especially diligently to know that all of God's children are spiritual and safe in His care. While I was praying in this way, several pieces of heavy metal cable fell off a truck in the lane beside me. I was able to maneuver without difficulty to avoid an accident. Another time a truck several vehicles ahead of me in heavy traffic lost part of its load. Again, no car w as damaged, although the pieces blew across several lanes of traffic before safely coming to rest. Such experiences have helped me see the value of prayer and of Christ Jesus' certainty that God is always with us. Once when he was speaking to his followers, he made a very specific point about our value in God's eyes. He said, as Matthew's Gospel puts it, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. . . . Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. To me this says that I can turn to God in every need--and so can you . Jesus knew that each of us is valuable to God and that we can turn in trust to His care. He made clear that spiritual man is actually God's likeness and inseparable from Him. God, who is Love, is always caring for all His children. This is not to say that we can be careless or behave foolishly. But through an increasing willingness to accept God's, divine Principle's, government in our lives, we'll find our attitudes changing. For one thing, we'll be recognizing that we in reality are all spiritual and all loved of God. As we actively love our neighbors, we'll be more alert, more considerate, and more patient. We'll also be less fearful because we'll gain increasing confidence in God's presence. By praying to understand that God's government protects everyone, we'll also be able to anticipate actions we need to take for the benefit of all. When our attitude changes in this way, something very special is happening. We begin to obey divine law, the spiritual power behind Jesus' teachings, and to exhibit the kind of Christly thinking the Master did so readily. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, had a very profound sense of the safety that comes to our lives through obedience to God. Speaking of God, Soul, in her Miscellaneous Writings, she says, "Into His haven of Soul there enters no element of earth to cast out angels, to silence the right intuition which guides you safely home. This spiritual intuition helps to lift us above the anger, boredom, or frustration that would lead to accidents. Such negative elements would darken our ability to hear God's voice. But as we turn to Soul, to God, in love for ourselves and for our fellow humans, we will find the guidance and the love that we need. And when love informs our acts and thoughts, we will gain increasing freedom from accidents.