“As often happens, that prayer had other effects”

During the pandemic, I have been praying a lot with the idea that there is only one Mind, God. The only ideas that can be transmitted from person to person are God’s ideas. A member at church gave a testimony about praying with the passage “All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible” (SH p. 514:28–30) as she rode the subway to her essential job, and I found that very useful. Every time I meet someone and wonder about whether they could “have it,” I remember and affirm that they are innocent, they are children of God, and the only ideas that can be transmitted from person to person are God’s ideas.

In early December I prayed for a family member. I prayed that God is right here, right now, and that this person belongs to God, not to any suffering. I remember a breakthrough in my prayer when I suddenly realized that it was so obvious that the problem was an absurd lie, trying to keep God’s idea from being expressed. And that is impossible, because God is omnipotent! I saw that nothing can change man’s identity as God’s child, expressing all God’s qualities. “In Thine own image we may see Man pure and upright, whole and free.” (Hymn 12) There was healing.

As often happens, that prayer had other effects. My dad and I went to get a Christmas tree, which although I love doing, had been fraught in recent years. I had been plagued by the belief of indecisiveness that paralyzed me, so I couldn’t decide harmoniously and efficiently. This had been exacerbated by the loud, overemotional music they play. I know this sounds a little silly, but it had been troubling that such a fun and minor event could be sabotaged by a belief of mental upheaval. This year, though, none of that was present at all. There was a sense of joy and lightness, of infinite good. We picked a tree very quickly and easily, and the music seemed funny rather than oppressive. It was very clear that the presence of God was blessing the whole outing.