"There are times when our prayers are very specific and there are times also when our prayers are a bit like the action of ‘seed dispersal’. We never know where the need is or why we are praying but if we are still and listening, our prayers will find the need.
Some time ago I experienced the truth of this . I had been praying about ‘church’ to get a clearer view of its relevance today. Rather than continuing to listen to human opinion about this I went straight to God to see what he is knowing about His creation. Immediately all thoughts about human organization disappeared and a very pure sense of ‘the structure of Truth and Love’ took its place. In her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures on page 583, Mary Baker Eddy gives the spiritual essence of ‘church’ in her definition: “The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.” I felt that spiritual structure everywhere, including everyone. There were no divisions, no diminishing, no barriers, no walls – all was structured and founded according to Love’s design and organisation. This sense was so pure and uplifting and it stayed with me through the activities of the day.
About 5.30 in the afternoon, my husband and I got into the car to take the dog for a walk in the woods. As I was turning the car out of the drive I realized that the driving seat was in the wrong position for me to drive comfortably and so, without first taking the car out of gear, I tried to release the catch on the seat to alter its position. As soon as I did this, the seat flew back causing my foot to come off the clutch. My other foot was still on the accelerator and so in a matter of seconds the car flew across the drive and ploughed through the neighbour’s fence into his garden and then came to a halt. The car was jammed between the two upright fence posts and we realized that we couldn’t open the car doors and there was no inside handle on the back hatchback door. But all the electrics worked and we found that we were able to climb out of the car window.
We were both completely unhurt, not even shaken. As we stood in the drive looking at the car we could see that during that split second of seemingly uncontrolled speed, the car had been carefully guided with absolute precision and accuracy through the fence, only hitting the panel and not the uprights which were bedded in concrete. There was only about 2 inches on either side of the car between the uprights! There was no way I had managed to do that! Also, our neighbour, in whose garden my car was now parked, had in the past always been very protective of any intrusion across his boundary, but on this occasion he could not have been more helpful and concerned about our wellbeing and was so co-operative in helping the AA to get the car back onto our drive.
As I looked at an apparently alarming situation, I saw only the expression of ‘church’ in operation… “the structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from Divine Principle. “ There were no walls or barriers which could harm or obstruct…there was no obstruction which could prevent movement…there was no restriction to freedom. There was only the one guiding, loving parent enfolding each one of His ideas and maintaining perpetual harmony and opportunity. I saw also that we need never be alarmed if the material conditions appear beyond our control and we seem to be hurtling into unknown and frightening situations. God’s structure never alters, He maintains it and will guide our footsteps as we reach out for new views of His goodness."