First Church of Christ, Scientist, Claygate

‘No Plague Shall Come Nigh Thy Dwelling’

I was traveling to London by train about 2 weeks ago and there were severe delays as someone had jumped in front of a train and been killed. With a journey that normally takes 30 minutes each way taking almost 3 hours each direction, I admit that my reaction was one of real annoyance. The next week I traveled to London again only to discover that my train journey home was delayed by 2 hours as this time 2 people had jumped in front of trains on the line I was traveling.

As I stood in the train carriage packed in like a sardine, unable even to move my arms I could feel myself getting very annoyed when I felt like mentally I had been hit over the head.

Loud and clear was the thought ' last week one person, this week two people, how many more times does this need to happen before you actually start praying about the situation ?'

Right then, I started to affirm what I know is true about man and the belief of mental illness & suicide. Here are some of the ideas I affirmed and prayed with.

First off, that God gave man dominion- dominion over every thought and action and that these could only be good as 'God saw everything He had made and behold it was very good.’ (Genesis 1)
I claimed that ‘Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.' (Science &Health, p 494) Divine Love was meeting whatever need was presenting itself, and that as Love is a synonym for God, I could affirm that God was communicating the way any need was being met to each person whether it was by an angel thought, through another person, a billboard, a line in a song or whatever means was appropriate for each person.
I acknowledged that 'Adhesion, cohesion and attraction are properties of Mind.”( Science & Health, p 124) Therefore there could be no false allure of suicide or a belief of many minds or a troubled mind. There is 1 Mind, God good who provides each and every thought to everyone in creation.
I affirmed that ‘A spiritual idea has not a single element of error and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive. ‘ (Science & Health, p 463) Thoughts of suicide are certainly offensive and simply can't be part of the child of God. There isn't a 'plague thought' in society about suicide or mental illnes- that it was spreading and difficult to control. Psalm 91 is quite clear that ‘no plague shall come nigh thy dwelling’.

Going forward, each time this situation came to thought, I would firmly claim that each person in God's creation is subject only to the ‘divine powers that be’.

Before my next train journey to London, I spent time praying specially along these lines. The journeys there and back were uneventful and have continued to be so. Each time I see a headline about mental health in the news, I view it as a call to prayer- to adamantly claim that there is only one Mind- God, and that He lovingly meets every human need.

I’m very grateful that whatever belief presents itself, wherever we are, we can affirm what is really true.

Praying about mental health

Explore More Praying For The World Posts