One night while driving home alone, I noticed a vehicle following me that was moving erratically. As it was late, my errand to buy water from a machine in a nearby parking lot seemed unwise. (Where I lived at that time, purified water was available from machines for a small fee.) As I debated whether to go ahead, the vehicle following me passed and drove on quickly. Satisfied that I was not being followed, I drove into the parking lot where the water machine was. As I got out of my car, a small red truck drove up from another entrance of the parking lot and a man got out. He approached me and asked directions to a nearby town. I gave him the directions and then turned to fill the water bottles I'd brought. When I did, he grabbed me from behind and started to drag me toward his truck. Without thinking, I screamed and began to fight to get away. As we struggled and he became more violent, it seemed he might beat me unconscious. Suddenly, I stopped screaming and thought, "Where's God?" Then an amazing thing happened. All at once the man let me alone and looked at me with wonder. Almost immediately he ran to his truck. As he got in, he looked back with a surprised, innocent expression and then drove off.
I ran to my car and quickly drove to the nearby police station. (I realize now that had I known I was still being followed, I should have driven to the police station immediately.) I reported the incident, but before the police took down the information, the dispatcher asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital because my lip was bleeding. I was also shaking badly and there were many bruises on my arms and what felt like welts on the back of my head. I declined but thanked her. Being a Christian Scientist, I knew that the best treatment for any trouble—whether it appears to be mental or physical—is scientific prayer based upon the understanding of Christ Jesus' teaching and demonstration of God's healing power. As I drove home, I prayed to understand that the same God who had saved me from the attacker was ever present and able to save always, not just when things seemed so bad I thought I couldn't cope. I knew from study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy, as well as from daily application of the truths gleaned in this study, that God is wholly loving, omnipotent, and omnipresent. I also knew that our prayers are answered and our needs supplied, when we pray with understanding.
When I arrived home, I called a Christian Science practitioner to help me. After I'd related what had happened, we gave gratitude to God for my immediate release from harm. The practitioner then asked me where I thought God had been during the struggle. I had to answer, "Right there," because this was the fact. The logical consequence of my response was that wherever God is, there can be no evil to result in injury. She promised to pray for me and asked me to know the assailant as God knew him. As I sought to mentally release this man from the label of "assailant," I saw that, in reality, God had been loving and guarding him just as He had me at that time, and even during what appeared to be the attack. God did not know him as a violent, depraved mortal. So I could not identify him that way either. God knows man only as the innocent, pure reflection of Himself. Then I remembered the look of innocence on the man's face as he'd driven away.
