Last summer I said farewell to my son as he joined his fellow Marines to deploy to Afghanistan, where he would live with and train Afghan forces. After dropping him off at his unit, I was driving home when I was nearly overwhelmed by a sudden sense of foreboding and fear for my boy. I couldn’t shake the feeling, but it was definitely shaking me—it was so unexpected, and it increased moment by moment. I myself had been to war several times in nearly 30 years of active service as a Marine, but I’d never been as concerned for my own well-being as I was that day for my son’s safety.
As I reached out to God for peace and support, it clearly came to me to call a Christian Science practitioner who I knew had been a Marine. It was a holiday and I reached his answering machine, but he picked up the phone partway through my message. I explained my situation and asked for help.
The response I received was so kind and understanding of a father’s concern. Immediately we turned to the 91st Psalm and mentally “wrapped up” my son completely in every verse. We discussed Mary Baker Eddy’s description of the holy “city foursquare” with its present, permanent guarantee of harmony and protection for all God’s children (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 575). With this awareness of the Christ, Truth, I knew nothing could enter which “defileth, … or maketh a lie” (Revelation 21:27).
