Do we have to accept accidents as a normal part of life? Or is there a way we can feel empowered when faced with an accident? Let’s explore how the outcome of any situation is not up to accidental factors, but falls under the power of God.
Where do accidents come from? An accident’s occurrence is based on chance, the probability that at any given moment our actions could have either a good or bad result. Accidents by definition happen at random. Fortunately for us, this is not the way God operates. The discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, found that God operates as Principle: a comprehensive and fundamental law. Unpredictability or chance do not play a role when it comes to God’s creation, because a comprehensive law stays the same in every application. In First John the apostle writes “God is love.” This means that the God’s law is the law of Love, a law which in every instance can only result in good.
Therefore, we know that accidents cannot come from God. But where do they come from? Accidents, like bad dreams, exist only as much as we believe them. When we’re asleep, our dreams seem real. We can feel all of the emotions that we feel in real life like elation or fear. But when we wake up, we realize that it was just a dream. Nothing that happens in our dreams has any bearing on reality. Accidents are the same way. They try to convince us that our once harmonious lives are now in shambles. But if we turn to the unchanging law of God, we can know that God didn’t create the accident. Just like waking from a dream, this realization shows us that the accident wasn’t ever part of our reality.
The Apostle Paul experienced a wonderful demonstration of this spiritual truth. When he found himself on the shores of Malta building a fire, a poisonous snake leapt out of the brushwood and bit Paul’s hand. The people with him expected that this snake bite would cause him to swell up, or possibly drop dead. Instead the Bible says Paul shook the snake off and suffered no ill effects, as though it never happened. Paul was able to do this by holding in thought the underlying spiritual truth that his life is in God.
Part of this process is overcoming the doubt or fear that creeps into thought at the moment an accident occurs. When Paul was bit, any number of doubtful or fearful thoughts could have come to mind: “I should have been more careful gathering the brushwood!”, “What’s this snakebite going to do to me?”, “Why did I get bit in the first place?” Affirming God’s complete control over his life, Paul barred the door of his consciousness to doubt and fear and accepted only the spiritual truth about his being. This was the best possible treatment for Paul’s bitten hand, and it resulted in no effect. When we do this for ourselves, we too can be empowered in the face of accidents.
Third Church wants to help you learn how to demonstrate this power of prayer. This Wednesday at 7:30pm, our Testimony Meeting will focus on the subject “Reward,” and this Sunday at 11:00am the service is on “Adam and Fallen Man.” Our Reading Room is also a great resource to dig deeper and find helpful articles on how Christian Science heals. You can join any of our services on the phone at the following conference number:
Dial-in Number: 1-310-372-7549
Access Code: 607611