Heavenly calm during the storms in Mexico
A Christian Science perspective.
This past week we’ve had days of unceasing and constant rain here in Mexico, due to two hurricanes and severe storms.
The concerns about disaster’s ill effects and harm to people loomed large. However, I knew I could find God’s relief and answer, right here, so I hung on more than ever to prayer.
I prayed knowing that the best response was to trust in God completely. I knew that staying calm, recognizing that we are all under His care and guidance, was far more productive than letting myself be carried away by concern and fear regarding the disastrous consequences that might result in my community and neighboring states.
The Bible verse, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” came to mind (Luke 12:6). The Bible’s promises help me, as nothing else can, to stay calm and to have the assurance that divine Love is guiding my thoughts and that everything is in His hands, in omnipresent good, and that all of us can experience it. Our well-being doesn’t depend on me or on human circumstances.
As I prayed in this way I was freed from the thoughts of concern that unknowingly had begun pushing me into a vicious circle of fear, insisting that human life goes through cycles of well-being, and then of crisis and destruction. I realized that to think in that way never helps us find solutions, but sinks us even more into the problem.
This passage from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” was comforting to me. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, writes, “Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God” (p. 254). I feel that statement affirms two other promises from the Bible: “We have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1), and “In him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). I felt such a relief and sense of deliverance in divine Love for me and everyone around me.
Tuesday morning, one of my neighbors told me that her grandchildren were stranded in the city of Acapulco. Due to the flooding they, and many other tourists, were unable to get out. This time, instead of feeling concerned by the circumstances, I was able to share with her the ideas and passages I’d been praying with. As a result, there was a spirit of cooperation and mutual help for our families. That evening, I found out that authorities had found a way to begin evacuating the people stranded in Acapulco, and the next day the children arrived home safely.
In the afternoon, thinking again on these spiritual truths, I recalled that in previous mornings, especially the day the storm began, I was suddenly awakened at dawn by the chirping of the birds that, in spite of the unceasing rain, wouldn’t stop singing. This happens every morning, but this time I noticed that one of them was singing much stronger, and that another one was answering in echoes, as brothers in a choir. Later, and although it was still raining, I even saw a graceful white butterfly flying around my neighbor’s tree.
All this reminded me of God’s promise of eternal Life, something I’ve been learning to think about and take very seriously. The Bible says: “Your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), and “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). These statements cheer my heart, and I’ve come to realize that these spiritual truths are also prayers.
Such natural activity of those birds, the butterfly, as well as a rooster who sings around here at different times during the day – even during the relentless storms and rain – all were to me a clear example that there is ongoing life that keeps on flowing harmoniously, even when we face difficult or disastrous times. This encouraged me to continue with my activities, trusting and expecting only good, which is our God-given right.
Mrs. Eddy writes: “The great Way-shower illustrated Life unconfined, uncontaminated, untrammelled, by matter. He proved the superiority of Mind over the flesh, opened the door to the captive, and enabled man to demonstrate the law of Life” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 30).
Later, I heard on the news how the government was helping those affected by the hurricanes. I was even able to find out through Facebook that my three sisters, whom I’d been unable to reach, were safe and doing their activities with their families as usual. I also heard how Mexican people were helping one another, and the immediate response that we were receiving from other countries, even ones far away, was a response expressing to us love and solidarity.
I’ve been able to prove, with much gratitude, that it’s possible to replace thoughts of anxiety, doubt, and fear in difficult and frightening situations. I know this allows us to receive the great good God has prepared for His sons and daughters.
One of Eddy’s poems, “Mother’s Evening Prayer,” inspires me. The first verse says:
O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
Thou Love that guards the nestling’s faltering flight!
Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.
(“Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 207).
Our heavenly and universal Father never forgets any of His children, and He continues to care for them through all circumstances.
Originally written in Spanish.
You can read this article in Spanish or German in the Herald of Christian Science on JSH-Online.