I spend a lot of time outdoors every year and one thing that I always take with me for wildlife encounters is this idea from the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:
"Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible. A realization of this grand verity was a source of strength to the ancient worthies. It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor to emulate the example of Jesus."
This statement was a source of reassurance to me one summer when I was doing geology work in Wyoming. I had heard that ticks were common in the area and that they were carriers of disease. My very first day in the field I encountered a lot of ticks. They appeared to be everywhere!
At lunch time, I did some prayerful thinking about the above statement and reviewed my understanding of the control which Love held over all. The word "Love", when capitalized by Eddy, is one of the names she uses for God. I had learned a great deal about Love's control from reading Eddy's book. With the assurance that God's creatures are harmless, my fear departed. Because of my new found love for these little creatures of God, I decided to try not to harm them.
Interestingly, for the remaining three weeks that I was working in that area, I found only two ticks on me and they had not bitten me, but were simply walking around. I can't prove that this was the result of my "understanding the control which Love held over all", but I can say that understanding this control relieved my concerns and gave me the freedom to enjoy many wildlife encounters, not just on this trip, but ever after.
You can read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures online or purchase it from Amazon or any major book retailer. It is also available for sale or study at the Christian Science Reading Room in Evergreen, Colorado at 4602 Plettner Lane.
