Finding reliable, lasting security

The “Peanuts” cartoon character Linus famously found security in a blue blanket he carried around with him. But often our need for comfort and peace of mind exceeds what a favorite cozy item can offer. Where can we really turn to find a reliable sense of security?

In my own life, I’ve learned that when things we can’t control yank the “security blanket” from our hands, it can actually become our first step in discovering a stronger, more lasting sense of security – one that’s not external, dependent on what’s going on around us, but eternal, of God.

When our first daughter was a baby, she and my wife were enjoying a quiet summer afternoon at home together. Suddenly my wife looked up and found herself facing an intruder – a man who’d broken into our home. When she spoke to him, he turned and ran down the stairs. On the way out, he grabbed a portable stereo and fled down the street.

It took my wife a moment to recover from the initial shock, but she phoned the police and then called me at work. By the time I got home, the police already had the man in custody, and they’d recovered the stereo. But there was still a very strong sense of insecurity, and fear. We felt so vulnerable. So violated.

But we both knew from experience that prayer is a valuable starting point in establishing freedom from fear. To me, prayer based on the nature of God, good, as the only legitimate power represents a very bright ray of hope. It awakens us to God as the divine source of fresh ideas that heal. It underscores the native goodness – and capability of living up to that native goodness – of everyone.

Such prayer also sheds a fresh spiritual light on the topic of security. It often seems that security is something we have to find somewhere in the world around us, and then protect through our own personal effort. But the Bible describes God as our “strength and power,” the one who makes our way “perfect” (II Samuel 22:33). Another verse adds, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1).

So in the hours that followed the break-in, we began to pray. We needed to address the lingering feelings of victimization and fear through a completely different lens – a spiritual one. We prayed to feel God’s protecting, divine goodness.

These prayers helped us see that while the man’s behavior had been unacceptable, none of God’s children are inherently evil or malicious. Our inherently spiritual nature means that everyone is capable of expressing goodness and feeling safe. We realized that the protecting, saving power of God is always here.

As we prayed in this way, the dread that had seemed so overwhelming dissolved. The feeling of freedom, joy, and security we’d felt before in our home returned to us – and has stayed with us in all the years since.

“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, explains, “Christian Science brings to light Truth and its supremacy, universal harmony, the entireness of God, good, and the nothingness of evil” (p. 293). Even when troubling things happen, divine Truth, God, is here to convey this comforting, healing fact: God isn’t just ever present. God is the only legitimate presence.

This divine law is available for each of us to lean on, right here and now, bringing security and healing directly into our lives.

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