Most of us long to feel the support of those close to us, to be the recipient of love, encouragement, and assistance, especially in challenging times. But what if that isn’t always forthcoming, or doesn’t take the form that meets our need? Where can we turn to find reliable support?
Take the following example: An innocent man, a teacher, reaches out to three of his best students for support at a time of great need—the hours before his execution. He clearly articulates his need not once, but twice, asking his students to support him for just one hour.
What is their response? They fall asleep. Rather than staying alert to watch and pray with their teacher as his arrest loomed, they simply give in to the very mundane need for sleep.
Some of you may have guessed that the teacher in this example is Christ Jesus. This account of his experience with his disciples, which took place in the garden of Gethsemane, is related in the Gospels. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, describes the situation in these terms: “The pangs of neglect and the staves of bigoted ignorance smote him sorely. His students slept. He said unto them: ‘Could ye not watch with me one hour?’… There was no response to that human yearning, and so Jesus turned forever away from earth to heaven, from sense to Soul” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 48).
As the Son of God, Jesus knew that he could turn to the heavenly realm of Soul, God, the true source of man’s support. And following his experience at Gethsemane, in the triumph of his resurrection and ascension, Jesus proved that God, who is Love, is the most powerfully sustaining and progressive support one could have.
In our own lives, we too can demonstrate this divine support, by turning “from earth to heaven, from sense to Soul.” We learn to do this as we realize more of our heavenly relation to God as His beloved children, the very reflection of divine Love itself, always divinely supported and sustained.
Jesus’ Gethsemane experience offers important guidance in this regard. It has helped me see three specific ways in which we can further our understanding of our relation to God, enabling us to feel and experience His care in tangible ways.
First: prayer. St. Luke’s account of this event indicates that Jesus “kneeled down” to pray with great earnestness, so much so that as he prayed, “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood” (see Luke 22:39–46). Those words hint at how much depth of feeling, sincerity, humility, yearning, and totality of purpose must have accompanied Jesus’ prayer, his time of communion with God.
God, who is Love, is the most powerfully sustaining and progressive support one could have.
Although whatever situation we may face is certainly not as extreme as what was facing Jesus, the spirit in which we turn to God matters. Heartfelt, humble prayer helps lift us into the realization of God’s ever-present love, which is pouring forth for our support.
Second: a willingness to do God’s will. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane led him to the point where he could say, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” It may seem difficult to relinquish our personal will or agenda, perhaps our own sense of how support should be realized and problems solved in our life. But willfulness tends to limit our perception of God’s ever-present, loving care for us. A willingness to relinquish a focus on self opens the way to discerning God’s will for us, which is always good, and we receive the inspiration that meets our needs, sometimes in unexpected ways.
Third: receptivity to God’s angel messages of support. The result of Jesus’ earnest prayer was that “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” Science and Health defines angels, in part, as “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect” (p. 581). Are we listening for angel thoughts in our own lives? By opening our thought to heavenly harmony, we begin to become aware of the presence of God’s care.
It’s not about asking God to become involved in the minutiae of our problems. Rather, it’s about allowing ourselves to be inspired by Him, to behold how God expresses His love in us, His image and likeness, the perfect spiritual reflection of Love.
Even if we are only beginning to realize this spiritual identity, God’s support is right with us. Science and Health says, “… Love supports the struggling heart until it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heaven” (p. 57).
In my own experience, I have found that turning to divine Love in times of need has produced reliable results. For instance, during my early adolescence, I tried to put into practice what I had learned about God and about prayer in the Christian Science Sunday School. This helped me adjust and feel supported during a major move and period of family changes.
Feeling God’s presence in this way—and at other stages in my life—has given me the assurance that when I turn to God in prayer, I can feel the reliable care, love, and support of the Divine. This assurance is available to all.
