I still vividly recall the day the Sunday School superintendent of the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, to which I belong asked me to give specific thought to the subject "Prayer for children" and then share my thoughts at the next Sunday School teachers' meeting. Why me of all people? I wondered. She really ought to know I had no extra time for it, and furthermore the Christian Science periodicals had already published enough articles on the subject by experienced people.
In this unenlightened state of thought I was not even able to recognize how urgently necessary it was to devote my specific attention to prayer for all the children of the world. I was considering giving up.
On my way home, however, I suddenly realized that everything God, Spirit, brings forth is constantly fresh and new. Spiritual intuitions, always inspiring, never dry—never "old hat"—are what come to us in prayer! This realization instantaneously filled me with joy, even though I still didn't have any leads whatsoever for my assignment. In the joyous acknowledgment of this significant divine fact I had already started to pray.
All the children around me I now saw in this
spiritual light, knowing that they as well as I
were in reality in the presence of God—were
"present with the Lord."
As I passed children on my way home from church, I saw in them more than merely imperfect mortals who would at some time or other be grown-up. With great joy I knew that where a child seemed to be, in reality—that is, seen from God's standpoint—the perfect man exists. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "Because man is the reflection of his Maker, he is not subject to birth, growth, maturity, decay. These mortal dreams are of human origin, not divine."Science and Health, p. 305.
With this thought I reached the main railroad station. As I was sitting in a compartment of the train, a group of young people suddenly burst in. They threw their briefcases onto the rack, laughing and chattering without a break.
This was not a particularly favorable atmosphere for praying—right? To my surprise, an English word suddenly came clearly to my thought. It was representative, and the middle part of the word was emphasized: "re-PRESENT-ative." The following thought unfolded to me: "Present" reminded me of the need "to be present with the Lord."See II Cor. 5:8. In astonishment I experienced this unfoldment, taking place with such wonderful ease.
My consciousness was filled with light, and I noticed with surprise that there couldn't be any ideas of greater importance to me than these in covering my subject, "Prayer for children." In the Science of being, man is, according to divine law, the expression of God, Mind. Man at all times is conscious of good because he partakes of the divine knowing. He understands because he partakes of the divine understanding. However deficient our knowing and understanding may seem to be at this moment, the truth remains that our actual, true self as a divine idea has never been separated from God. As Science and Health tells us, "Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life."Science and Health, p. 215. Why? Because the mental darkness, in which we sometimes seem to find ourselves, is in fact nothing more than insufficient understanding of God, the false belief that divine intelligence can be absent.
All the children around me I now saw in this spiritual light, knowing that they as well as I were in reality in the presence of God—were "present with the Lord." It became clear to me that right where each one of these teen-agers seemed to be, in reality the spiritual idea, man, existed, complete and inseparably at one with his Father-Mother God. This spiritual fact had to dissolve every false attraction, emotion, desire, or reaction that would deny it—the disappointment of parents, the despair and frustration of children, the disintegration that brings families to separation.
With authority I asserted that right where great fear of an uncertain future seems to be, right there our loving Father is speaking to every individual in the words of the father in the parable of the prodigal son, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."Luke 15:31. And what is his? What belongs to him? Is it not the inestimable spiritual heritage that God has in reality already given us and that every one of us can claim, such as safety and peace, activity, completeness, and supply?
I reasoned further that when young people, in ignorance of their spiritual heritage, cherish a false, limited concept of themselves and others, they often live in unlawful ways or sink into apathy and addiction to drugs or alcohol. I realized that through prayer we can know that right there God's law of wisdom and love governs. It is a spiritual law that works in the interest of all of God's children—and we need to claim it as true for everyone.
One spiritual fact stood out to me in particular, namely, that divine infinity, the infinity of Spirit, Love, is absolutely incapable of being interrupted. Knowing this gave me a feeling of dominion and safety.
During the following week, three people came to me for help as a Christian Science practitioner. It turned out in each case that the troubles had arisen through disruption of the families. Also a Sunday School pupil wanted to know how she could pray for a classmate who had just tried to kill herself for the third time. Her father had left the family, and her mother had become an alcoholic out of heartache over this.
What had impelled these people to turn to Christian Science for an answer? I am sure it was the light of the Christ that had prevailed and had attracted those who were yearning for this light.
Christ Jesus says, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness."John 8:12. And he encourages us, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."Matt. 5:16. To me this means we can know God and feel and understand our spiritual oneness with divine Mind.
"To be 'present with the Lord,'" our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, explains, "is to have, not mere emotional ecstasy or faith, but the actual demonstration and understanding of Life as revealed in Christian Science. To be 'with the Lord' is to be in obedience to the law of God, to be absolutely governed by divine Love—by Spirit, not by matter."Science and Health, p. 14. This practical spirituality and obedience to divine law literally enable us to overcome all evil and discover our real selfhood as the child of God.
You can imagine how inspiring our Sunday School teachers' meeting was!
