Can We Feel -- and BE -- Safe from Crime?

[My friend Marilyn and I wrote this piece together.]

Local, national and international headlines indicate that acts of crime and terrorism are increasing, and that they’re striking closer and closer to home. It’s easy for the headlines to make us fear that crime is inevitable, and worry we might find ourselves helpless victims.

In the wake of violent events around the world, responses such as “Pray for Paris” and “our thoughts and prayers are with you” have often been met with prayer-shaming rebuttals like, “prayer is not enough” and “God is not enough.” How can we make sense of the debate? Do God and prayer have power to help us not only FEEL -- but also BE -- safer?

When I (Marilyn) found myself in an imminently dangerous situation many years ago, prayer to God was the most immediate and accessible (and perhaps the only) source of help. It not only brought me a sense of comfort and calm, but inspired me to take practical steps that led me to safety and stopped another individual’s aggressive behavior.

Driving across the country alone, towing a U-Haul, I realized the same 18-wheeler truck was consistently near, playing cat-and-mouse -- with no other vehicles in sight. When I glanced up at the driver with determination to pass, he signaled to suggest we pull over together.

Although fear mounted, I felt in my heart that my safety resided in God, and that He was governing every situation on the road. Instantly, I felt more calm, and figured out a way to exit the highway and let this fellow continue down the road.

I checked into a motel room, but when the trucker began banging on the outside and adjoining room doors, demanding I let him in, I realized he had doubled back and rented the room next to mine. I didn't answer.

I needed a plan to keep safe, especially since there was no phone in the low-budget room (pre-cell phone days). Based on previous experience, I knew the Bible would point me in the right direction, and, opening it, I was comforted by God’s love in Genesis 1, where God creates each one of His children genuinely good, and innocent. It seemed reasonable then, that God’s love for both the trucker and me would keep us from being a victimizer or a victim.

Indeed, shortly after my time in prayer, the man quit the banging and left me alone. I was able to rest for a few hours, and leave early the next morning without incident. Later, I arrived safely at my destination.

As I look back, my effort to focus on the qualities that were inherent in me and in that man -- both as God’s children -- was critical. It revealed to me a confrontation-free path to safety, and it kept him from committing a crime. Also, my effort to understand more clearly the presence and power of the divine enabled me to prove that He -- not a criminal or crime -- governed my life.

So, do God and prayer have power to help us not only FEEL -- but also BE -- safer? Judging from this experience, we would have to say, resoundingly -- YES -- for one and all!

Marilyn Johnson is a practitioner of Christian Science healing, and is a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Springfield, MO. Deborah Sherwood is a published health writer, and the media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in Missouri.