Into London without fear.

Following the terror attack on London last week I thought of a similar time nearly twelve years ago on 7th July 2005 - now known as 7/7 - when there had been terrorist attacks on the underground and a bus in London.

For some time previous to this I had been going into the middle of London every week to work as a telephone counsellor for children and young people in trouble or distress. This meant going on the train from outside London where I live and then continuing on to the call centre on two different underground trains.

I was due to go in the day after the 7/7 strikes and I had some serious thinking to do. Should I go? The call centre said it was up to each one of us to decide for ourselves. I knew that in doing this work I was expressing God's love and care for His children. I could never go anywhere God did not want me to be and where I was not surrounded by and included in His love. This, of course, was true for everyone else as well. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (I John 4:16)

No choice. Off I went. As we neared the end of the half hour journey on the train I felt a mental warmth surrounding me which is hard to describe. People joke about how the British sit on a train and no one usually speaks or smiles but this day people said hello and seemed much more friendly. There was a feeling of togetherness and unity. No one was going to let evil stop them from being where they needed to be. Fear was not going to win. As I was going through the station on my way to the underground I saw several policemen in a group so I stopped and thanked them for all they were doing. They seemed very grateful for this acknowledgement.

The same atmosphere prevailed on the underground. It was a determination that good was here and would win. I did have to draw myself up quickly on one thing, however. If I weren't careful it was easy to label anyone who looked like a non Western foreigner as someone to avoid. This was especially true if he was a young male with a rucksack. What a burden to put on your fellow man! It was assuming someone could be evil just by the colour of their hair or what they were carrying. That certain was not expressing the love I had felt earlier. I thought of Mary Baker Eddy's statement "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 477). The Bible says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for we are all one in Christ

Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

This oneness encircled me for the rest of my day, both during my work and on the way back home. It is the love, fearlessness and power of God which we see in London and all around the world today and which includes everyone and defeats evil.


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