Last year, our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren were spending a holiday weekend with my wife and me. After enjoying some time outdoors, my daughter and I had just started up the exterior stairs when we heard disturbingly loud cracking sounds. About 15 feet in front of us, a 50-foot-tall oak tree had just broken away at its stump and was falling directly toward us.
I quickly stepped up onto the landing and then hurried onto the upper stairs, where I was free and clear. But my relief vanished when I looked back to see that my daughter was still on the lower stairs in the path of the rapidly falling tree. The picture before me presented a stark claim of hopelessness and despair.
My immediate reaction was, “This can’t be happening!” While what I was seeing seemed devastating, I knew it could not be the truth about the situation. From my study of Christian Science I knew that our Father-Mother Love would never place His daughter in harm’s way. A child of God and a falling tree simply do not belong in the same place at the same time.
