After wonderful vacation days, my horse, dog, and I were headed for home. Toward the end of the trip, which up until then had been smooth and uneventful, another vehicle suddenly bumped into the horse trailer, causing the trailer first to veer, then to skid. Both car and trailer skidded out of the lane, spinning around, and finally coming to a stop in the opposite direction next to the middle lane of a three-lane highway. I saw in front of me three rows of vehicles which all had come to a stop—a rear-end collision hadn’t occurred. My dog and I were not injured. However, the horse had managed to escape from the trailer (which had turned upside down), and now was galloping down the highway. But despite the circumstance I remained calm. Yes, I can honestly say that I felt safe and embraced because I knew that God was governing and God has all power. I knew that the following reassuring words were true: “Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee” (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 149–150).
What happened next can hardly be described in words: I was witnessing how all necessary steps unfolded, in the needed and appropriate way. And without my doing anything! I didn’t need to ask anybody. I was being taken care of. The person with the right skills or knowledge showed up at the right time: securing the accident site, notifying the police, handling all formalities and paperwork. Someone was able to corner the horse (the horse wasn’t wearing a harness); it was unharmed. Someone else offered to transport the horse and host it overnight. Everything happened smoothly, effortlessly, and completely, without any gaps. Instead of chaos, a sense of active charity prevailed, which was noticed by many of the people who witnessed the incident. I was deeply touched by this experience, to be able to witness this proof of God’s omnipotence and omniaction.
Was it simply coincidence that all the steps unfolded so smoothly? Was it just “good luck”? I’m convinced that it wasn’t a matter of coincidence, the point being that in this experience all that had to happen was implemented at just the right time. Just one gap—and everything would have unraveled. What happened was unplanned, and the responses to the situation were not the result of a man-made plan.
I am equipped to handle everything that comes up during this day because Love provides me with everything I need.
But how then was I prepared for this situation? In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). The words “this day” inspire me to focus my thoughts on my present tasks, rather than worrying about tomorrow. Therefore, at the beginning of each day I affirm that because I am God’s perfect, unique, individual expression I will have opportunities to express God. Instead of starting with a long to-do list, I start my day by considering the following questions:
• Why am I looking forward to this day? Because today I will have an opportunity to express God, and by expressing God I will expand my understanding of my Father-Mother God. God’s love is embracing me, and because that is true, neither indifference, fatigue, nor apathy can encroach upon my God-given joy.
• Who am I? I am the perfect expression of Love, unique and individual. I am God’s idea, and since I reflect (express) God, I can be conscious only of good. I am not a material being, not made of flesh and bones. I am never born and never dying, and unlimited in my capacities (see Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475). Because Love provides me with everything I need, I am equipped to handle everything that comes up during this day.
• Why am I? I am here to be a witness to God, good. I’m here to demonstrate my God-given qualities and talents, and to improve them, overcoming limitations through a growing understanding of my true nature as an idea, the expression, of God, Love. I don’t go about my day routinely, but I’m alert and looking out for opportunities to express creativity. Every day is God’s day, and God needs precisely the form of individuality which I reflect as a unique idea; without it God’s creation wouldn’t be complete.
• How do I view others—my immediate neighbors as well as the whole world? Just like myself, everyone else is in reality an idea of God, expressing Love and perfection. Therefore you and I are always being provided with what is needed, and this truth applies to any given situation. The true communication isn’t from person to person but instead from God to all of His ideas (see Science and Health, p. 284). Understanding this, I cannot utter or do anything that would be offensive to someone else, nor can I truly be hit by someone else’s “arrows” (see Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp. 223–224). God’s ideas are safely protected by Him and constantly embraced in His love.
• Knowing all of this fills me with gratitude and joy!
I’m holding to these ideas during the course of the day. Instead of trying to outline, to take charge of things, to endlessly weigh the pros and cons of a decision, I’m striving first to get very still mentally—to shut out all the “chatter,” and to become conscious that God is omnipotence and omniaction. I’m not personally responsible for making something happen. From God, good, the one divine Mind, a synonym for God, flow all right ideas, and my job is simply to employ them and to put them into practice, under the guidance of Principle (another synonym for God). I’ve learned that if we rely wholeheartedly on God during our day, good ideas and solutions will manifest themselves at the right time, at the right place, in the right way. Praying, “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10), we yield to God. Then ideas unfold effortlessly.
