Miles and miles with God

Bringing a spiritual perspective to daily life

My mother and I are soon to depart for a cross-country trip to prepare some family property for sale. We'll be driving both ways and will be traversing some of the most desolate and barren parts of the southwest United States.

We've made the necessary arrangements to have the car in tip-top condition. But what about our safety while we're on the road? Is there a way to prepare for that before we go?

My mom and I are both lovers of the Bible and a companion book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," by Mary Baker Eddy. Their messages of reassurance, safety, and love are constant reminders of our protection in every circumstance.

Take, for example, this passage from Psalm 91: "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

What a great promise that is. It tells me that as I put my faith in God's protection, I won't be disappointed, because He won't even let me stub my toe!

This powerful view of God's control of my life helped me at a time when I had to make a number of long drives in a very short period. I had been going back and forth between my home in one state and my daughter's in another, to help her make a transition, and eventually move. At one point I had a seven-hour trip back home ahead of me after a very tiring day. I didn't get away until quite late, and had to drive through the night in order to be at work the next morning.

Less than halfway through the trip, I was feeling very sleepy. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to pull over to take a brief nap. My tight schedule wouldn't permit it.

Since I have successfully turned to God in other situations and found a solution to my problems, I knew that I could do so now, too.

It occurred to me that God is unchanging. He is constant and consistent. It follows that His expression of Himself must be unchanging as well. Because God is divine Love, His love for me can't change or diminish.

While I thought along these lines, I realized that it didn't make any difference whether I was driving along the road or sleeping snugly in my bed; God's care for me was steady and secure, just like His love for me.

I began to see that the hundreds of miles before me were filled with God - with His tender reassurance, safety, goodness, accuracy, and precision.

As each mile passed, I added another quality to my growing mental list of all that God was doing to make my trip safe, secure, and even fun. Before I knew it, the sun began to rise, bathing the world around me in a beautiful light. Each tree, each rock, each house and building glowed with a special radiance.

Soon, I was home with enough time to easily get to work. And I wasn't the least bit tired. Nor were there any ill effects during the day, of my having been up all night.

This kind of outcome, although just a small example, is not a coincidence or luck. It's the result of applying the spiritual laws that govern all humanity, the same laws that the writer of the 91st Psalm knew about. A favorite passage from Science and Health confirms this viewpoint: "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (page 494).

With confidence based on these spiritual facts, I know that my trip with my mom will be filled with joy, with fun, and with safety. It's guaranteed.

The Lord is thy keeper:
the Lord is thy shade
upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,
and even for evermore.

Psalms 121:5-8