In 1995, my husband and I went on holiday to England with our two small daughters. On our last day there, my handbag went missing from the restaurant where we were having lunch. It had been on the seat beside me and contained our traveler’s checks, passports, and airline tickets for the flight home to South Africa that evening.
We went to the police station to report the theft, but they said there was not much they could do about it. My husband had a bit of cash with him and was able to phone his mother, who called a Christian Science practitioner to pray about the situation. My husband also made arrangements for us to go to the South African Embassy to obtain passports to fly out of the country.
We can expect to see evidence of divine Spirit’s activity.
Meanwhile, I was praying, acknowledging that because God, Spirit, is All-in-all, wonderful things are happening every moment, and we can expect to see evidence of divine Spirit’s activity. The first chapter of the Bible says, “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). I reasoned that since God is the sole creator, only good can unfold. The Bible also says that God made man in His own image and likeness. That meant to me that each of us—including whoever took my handbag—must reflect God-derived qualities such as honesty, integrity, love, and kindness.
We were now running late, so we got a taxi back to our hotel to collect our luggage. When we told the taxi driver about our plight, he kindly said he would take us to the airport with the little money we had left.
Since God is the sole creator, only good can unfold.
As we entered the airport, I heard my name being called over the intercom. We went to the information counter as directed, and there was my handbag. A woman who was shopping in the same town where we ate lunch had found it on the way to her car. She opened it and saw our airline tickets and passports inside. Noting that the tickets were for that evening, she immediately took the handbag to the police. They said they were not able to take it to the airport, so she did. She left her name and address at the information counter, so we were able to send her flowers as a thank-you for her kindness. We also gave sincere gratitude to God, knowing that she was expressing the love that comes from God.
