When I was a young woman, I lived with my older sister in a house on a remote street in an inner-city area of Melbourne. My sister worked the night shift, so I was often home alone at night. Upon entering the house one evening, I found myself weighed down with a feeling of dread, unlike anything I had ever felt before. Having been raised to trust God to keep me safe, I had never been a fearful person, nor experienced any strong fear.
I took out my Bible and the Christian Science textbook and tried to read and study, but the feeling was overwhelming. I endeavored to pray but couldn’t concentrate. After some time, I put my books away and put on a recording of a Christian Science lecture based on the twenty-third Psalm, then went to bed. Each line of the psalm was covered in detail, including its practical application as well as its spiritual message. When the lecturer reached the verse, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me” (Psalms 23:4), a great peace descended upon me and all fear departed. I felt God’s love all about me and fell sound asleep.
Much later in the night I awoke to find a man standing at the foot of my bed. As I looked at him, he walked around the end of my bed up beside me and leaned down over me. I lay still, oblivious to any danger and without fear. All I could feel was the love and peace of God’s presence that I had felt upon falling asleep. It filled the room and permeated my thinking. There was no space for anything else.
