An experience I had many years ago proved to me in very tangible ways the blessings that come from obeying the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
A friend, my six-year-old son, and I were driving down a wide artery in a large city, on which I had the right of way. Suddenly a car came racing down a side street, speeded through a stop sign, and rammed broadside into my car, pushing it across the intersection into a mailbox. There was considerable damage to my car, and though the other driver, my son, and the friend were not hurt, I needed help. I quickly asked my friend to find a telephone and call a Christian Science practitioner for me. By the time the police arrived, my friend had returned from making the call and I was able to get out of the car and stand.
While the police report was being written up, I asked the young man if he had insurance. He seemed very upset by what had happened and in an arrogant voice said, "No, I don't have any insurance, and I don't have any money. So what are you going to do about it?" This made one of the police officers angry and he strongly encouraged me to swear out a warrant for the man's arrest. But then I thought of the Golden Rule. I felt in my heart that this man had intended me no harm and that the emotion and shock of the accident had got the better of him. I wanted to do for him what I would have wanted done for me under similar circumstances. So I said to the officer that I did not wish to have the young man arrested.
