Recently, there were more and more warnings in the media about the dangers of being hit by a lightning stroke. This reminds me of an experience I had in my childhood.
I spent the summer vacation with my parents in Upper Bavaria. It was our first trip together after the end of WWII. I must have been nine years old at the time. We were camping on a campground. We all loved being in the great outdoors and enjoyed the spectacular views of the Alps. One night as we were just retiring into our tent, we noticed signs of an approaching thunderstorm.
For about an hour the storm came closer and closer. Then suddenly the sky lit up, and a bolt of lightning struck with a loud noise very close to where we were. It was light as day. It was very scary, and we all wondered what had happened. I, in particular, was very frightened. At that time I didn’t know about Christian Science, and neither did my parents. But I started praying—with all the fervor of a nine-year-old. I prayed to God that He would protect me and my parents, and I tried to detach my thoughts from the frightening display of the forces of nature. I knew intuitively that we were all in God’s care and that we could trust His protecting all-power. And just as the lightning lit the sky, my thoughts began to fill with light, too! My fear receded, and I felt secure. I stopped worrying and instead trusted God. We were all still wide awake but we no longer felt afraid; we rather felt a sense of awe toward this display of nature. We felt secure and peaceful. In the words of the Psalmist: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God: in him will I trust” (Psalms 91:1, 2).
