Proof of God's Presence

        "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble", the Holy Bible assures us. (Psalms 46:1)

        "Well, suppose He is", someone may be saying back to me.  "What good does that do me?  I need to have some sign, some proof that God is present." Absolutely.  We shouldn't, and don't have to, settle for less.

        This is the beauty of Christian Science, that through its teachings you and I can experience that help that is ever at hand. While comforting statements of God's love and care are wonderful, and we Christians couldn't do without them, how much better it is, and this Jesus showed in his healing work, to have actual demonstrations of God's all-power.

        To achieve this, one could not do better than to get a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and ponder its inspired truths.  But on the way to this, for the readers who are not acquainted with what my religion teaches, let me share some of the things I've found that help me realize God's power and presence.  These are illustrated for us in the life of our Master, Christ Jesus.

        First, voluntary, fervent aloneness with God, divine Spirit.  A keener awareness of His ever-presence has to be patiently cultivated, even as effort has to be expended to deepen a human relationship.  When we wholeheartedly reach out to divine Mind, we hear what God is revealing about His infinitely loving and powerful nature.  From this we gain a priceless awareness of our unity with God, divine Love.

        Once we've complied with the command in Psalms, "Be still, and know that I am God," (Psalms 46:10) then what?  Again, observing Jesus' example and how he was always glorifying his Father, we naturally think of using our solitude to the same holy end.  The Scriptures abound with admonitions to give God the glory He is due, and as we advance spiritually, we find that praising Him is something we cannot do enough.

        Christian Science shows that the ability to feel God's presence in our day-to-day is inseparably interwoven with sanctification of thought.  Reflecting on the way Jesus conducted his life shows that purity was a "given" for him.  Purification is the price we must pay if we would prove our true spiritual nature.  As Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8) And since purity is the natural spiritual state and birthright of you, me, and all God's children, it can progressively predominate in our thoughts and our daily lives.

        Turning to God with mere wishful thinking, hoping He will hear but feeling underneath that He is inaccessible, too far away, or indifferent to our needs is a little like our putting an opaque covering in front of a window through which sunlight has been streaming.  We don't cause the sun to be any less near to us, nor do we stop it from shining. But we do cut ourselves off temporarily from its invigorating warmth.  You can see this, can't you?

        But learning to go to God as Jesus did saves one from this futile exercise.  It enables us to feel our Father's tender, powerful presence that is always right where we are.