Several years ago, I was in Matadi, a port city in Bas-Congo in the Democratic Republic of Congo to give a lecture on Christian Science. The Christian Science Society in Matadi had rented a room for the lecture in a building next to a large outdoor market.
The day we assembled for the lecture—the guests, members of the church, and I—the market was open and bustling with people. Suddenly we heard voices outside shouting, “We will die!” and through the window we saw people running in all directions. Some ran in telling us, “Get out; they will come and kill you!” There was panic in the room—I could see the fear on people’s faces.
What had happened? The Minister of the Interior had sent troops with orders to arrest all members or partisans of a sect in Matadi, because this sect was still threatening the country’s government and advocating the separation of Bas-Congo (Lower Congo).
The sect also teaches that the Bible most churches use is for whites and that blacks should have their own Bible.
I asked the audience, including the people who had come in from outside, not to be afraid, because we were there to proclaim the good that is universal, and the purpose of this lecture was to bear witness to the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, the only Mind.
Finally, everyone was quiet, and the people in the room were not agitated. They followed the lecture attentively. At one point, I remained quiet to become conscious of the fact that we were all surrounded and protected by divine Love and that nothing bad could touch us. And I prayed. These passages from the Bible came to thought: “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2); and “Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them” (Isaiah 26:11).
I knew that malice, hatred, envy, animosity, which are the elements of mortal mind, could not influence the children of God to do wrong. And God, the one Mind, was taking supreme care of His own creation, including each one of us. So everyone was safe in God.
In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy wrote: “Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.
“Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection” (p. 424).
And also: “In Science, all being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmonious in every action. Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized opposite” (p. 407). I became certain of God’s presence through affirming these ideas.
I continued to give the lecture to the end. Really, we all felt the hand of God was with us and was caring for us. Afterward, people came up to me saying, “We felt God’s protection, and the fear was gone.” They also said they were happy with the message of the lecture.
Outside, the market was empty. All the locals and visitors had fled. Merchants had closed their shops. We were left alone. Everyone who had come to the lecture returned home with confidence.
