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I live less than two miles from Lake Michigan, and it is not unusual for strong winds and storms to sweep across the lake. One particular afternoon five years ago, one storm picked up tremendous speed and force, and it hit the coastline with straight-line winds estimated at 90 to 100 miles an hour. My town was directly in its path.
Thousands of trees were blown over, and power lines went down in a tangled mess, leaving roads impassable and hundreds of homes without power. Six trees had fallen on my roof, and dozens more on my property. I will be forever grateful that my adult children, who were visiting at the time, and I were unharmed. In fact, we all immediately turned to God in prayer, acknowledging His presence, protection, and authority and listening for direction as to where we should begin the cleanup.
Our prayers included gratitude for the many friends who arrived over the next few days, having walked under, over, and around more than a mile of downed trees to reach my home. Everyone came at the right time with the right knowledge and equipment to be of service, as if orchestrated by the divine intelligence I believed was moving them to care for us in this way.
A week after the storm, my local Church of Christ, Scientist, was able to reopen for a Sunday service. One of the hymns we sang was especially appropriate. The second verse says:
What though my human comforts die,
The Lord my Savior liveth;
What though the darkness gather round,
Songs in the night God giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that Rock I’m clinging;
Since Love is God of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
(Pauline T., adapted, “Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 533, © CSBD)
These words were meaningful to me as I looked ahead to all that was still to be accomplished, which included working with the insurance company. I’d heard stories of bad experiences with insurance claims, so I knew that as I approached this process, I needed to continue praying. I decided to stay on “that Rock,” God, and keep singing, refusing to let the enormity of the task or the challenge of paying for it overwhelm me.
I also looked up the word “insure” and found that it means “to make sure, certain, or secure” (“The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language”). Through my study and practice of Christian Science, I’ve learned that our security and protection from loss and harm have their source in God. So my prayers also took me to the Bible, where I found so many references to the everlasting covenant of love, protection, provision, and security God made with His children from the beginning. For example, God promises Abraham: “I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you” (Genesis 17:7, Common English Bible).
I also found helpful an idea shared by the builder I worked with. He said the work his crew would do was not about repair but restoration. I loved that idea and knew I could trust God to fully restore my home. My home had always been a place of hospitality to others, and I realized that the heart of my home really wasn’t a structure of wood and windows. It was an expression of divine Love, welcoming and embracing all those who came through its doors. That expression of Love could never be lost.
My interactions with the insurance company were harmonious. Everyone was clear in explaining the process, fair in the compensation for the work, and supportive of the entire project. As it turned out, I was fully compensated even before all of the work was completed. Within a year, my home and property were fully restored.
Each one of us is always at home – and forever insured – in the arms of our Father-Mother God, who is divine Love. We can never be cast out or left out of this Love. As Mary Baker Eddy reminds us in the beautiful rendition of Psalm 23 in her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever” (p. 578).
Adapted from an article published in the Aug. 30, 2021, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
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