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Londoners Will Not Be Divided
Marta
Greenwood
On July 7, I had a 10am appointment in my office, which is right by Tavistock Square. But then I had to cancel that appointment for another assignment, which kept me from going into London that day.
That morning, someone rang to ask me if I was okay—she had just heard about the bombs that exploded near my office. I ran to the TV to get the news.
My immediate thoughts were for my husband and one of my daughters, who worked in the City right where the bombs were. I also wanted to let them know I was okay, as I knew they would worry. Soon after that, my London office telephone line, which I had diverted to my home, stopped working. I tried to ring my family, but mobile connections weren’t available either.
Another daughter, who works in London, managed to call me. She was very concerned because she couldn't get hold of her sister. I had been totally calm and confident up to this point. But her panic set me panicking too.
My study of Christian Science has given me great confidence in the laws of God, which I have come to see are always good for us. As a result, nothing usually fazes me.
So I was surprised to be caught in the emotion of the moment. Why was I feeling so afraid and so helpless? I couldn’t even pray, I felt so shocked
I was glued to the TV screen. At that moment, the cameras focused on the Mayor of London. He spoke with great confidence and authority. He said with total conviction: “I’d like to thank Londoners for the calm way in which they have responded . . . Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand united together in solidarity alongside those who have been injured and those who have been bereaved and that is why I'm proud to be the mayor . . . .”
That was just what I needed to hear at that moment. I thought, Yes, Marta, you can unite for good with all Londoners today and take your spiritual stand too. For me, this meant prayer.
As a Christian, I accept John’s definition of God as love. At that moment, when I was struggling with the knowledge of the bombings, I realized I had a duty to recognize that each one of us is individually and spiritually the image and likeness of God.
Terrorism is based on the belief that there is a reality in evil. But an infinite, all-good God, divine Love, cannot be both good and evil. Evil, or animal magnetism, starts with the mistaken acceptance of life, substance and intelligence as residing in matter; and of the belief that the world is composed of many different minds and powers.
At that moment, I was uniting with others around the globe who were praying to know that terrorism has no life, law, power, presence or being. Where all space is filled with God, evil cannot assert itself, or express itself as terror, chaos, destruction or loss.
Evil or animal magnetism is not a presence filling a space. In God’s Allness, which is omnipresent and omnipotent, it has no presence or power. For this reason, it cannot assert itself as a power or influence over people, and it cannot cause terror, disorder, murder.
God, divine Mind, Principle, is infinite and All. The one Mind is conscious of everything that is true of its children—that’s you and me—and is conscious of everything that is true of nations. Whatever is not true of us and of nations has no real power to sustain itself because the only power is the power of good.
Just then the phone rang. It was my husband, saying he was fine and safe. Soon after that, my daughter called—with the mobile phone connections down, she had not been able to get through earlier.
She had been with a client in another part of London, so she was not close to where the bombs had gone off. When she called her office she was told to go home, as they were closing the office for the day. Since all the buses and underground networks had been shut down, she, like many others, had to walk. She reached home two hours later, and said she'd noticed a loving atmosphere of calm, of people helping each other.
And my prayers still go on. One of the Turkish pupils in the language school where my daughter teaches English has visited all the hospitals where the injured were taken, looking for his friend. Another pupil was distraught because his landlord’s son lost an eye and another friend is still missing.
As we unite together in prayer, we have power over evil beliefs because the Christ, the universal Truth we all embody, is power. Thinking rightly about terror and fear—that is, understanding the power of good and its ever-presence—is the way to defeat terrorism.
Our united prayer is the conviction that God is with each of us, individually and collectively. This view of ourselves as united and undivided, as the pure reflection of divine Love, the loved children of God, brings harmony.
These words in the book of Isaiah are the promise of the ever-presence of God, divine Love and His law: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
Paul declared, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." And when neighbors love each other, nothing can take away the joy and bliss of this harmony in London, or any other city in the world.
A message left outside the Aldgate East underground station, paraphrasing the reaction of Prime Minister Tony Blair to the attacks, says:
"We won’t be intimidated.
We won’t be changed.
We won’t be divided.
We won’t be terrified.
Our resolve won’t be shaken."
To me, this expresses the idea that God is All. To accept God’s allness is to put into practice a law that totally destroys fear, terror, evil or animal magnetism of whatever nature.
This is the standpoint of God and His children as united and undivided. This is the law of Truth, and it reveals the presence of infinite Love, which heals, blesses and liberates all people, everywhere.
July,
2005
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ABOUT THE AUTHORs: Marta Greenwood was born in Iran. The four walls of her home were the limit of her world. All her childhood her one ambition was to set herself and other women free from the oppression of traditions that treated women as less than human. She and her sisters were not allowed any contact with the outside, so what she learned about the world was through books that she read avidly.
At age 19, Marta was sent by her family to England to study nursing. Later, she became a midwifery sister in Guy’s Hospital, London.
Her search for spiritual healing started when she was taken critically ill and rushed into hospital for major surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor. She was on her fourth blood transfusion when her children came in. She knew then that she would do whatever it took to recover, so she could be the one raising them. Eventually she was able to go home, but some 18 months later Marta had still not fully recovered. During this time, as she searched for an alternative system of healing, she was told about the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. After intense study of this book and its healing system, Christian Science, she was totally cured.
She found in this book that Christian Science healing is practical. She discovered the impact of thought on life experiences. She also realized that her past experiences could not keep her from achieving her birthright of dominion as a loved child of God. Through her study of Science and Health, she tore off her mental veil of repression and limitation and found her freedom to achieve things she never believed were possible as an eastern woman.
After seeing Christian Science healing work successfully on many types of problems and physical conditions and with friends of all faiths and no faiths, Marta became an accredited full-time Christian Science practitioner in he healing ministry of Christian Science.
Today she is a healer, speaker, and writer on Christian Science healing. She is currently a Contributing Editor for two well known magazines; Christian Science Sentinel and Christian Science Journal. From her office in London, she works with many professionals from all walks of life. She gets referrals from the medical and alternative practitioners. In her community work, she works with abused women. She was on the steering committee of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Interfaith Forum run through the Borough Council on local government level, organizing exhibitions and faith Forums locally in London.
Marta has two grown up daughters. She lives with her husband in Weybridge, Surrey.
Marta Greenwood CS Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
mailing address: Pebblecombe, Oatlands Mere, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 9PD UK
Telephone evenings: +44 - 0- 1932 248517
Telephone- office day time: + 44 - 0- 20 7745 7125
Fax +44- 0-1932 267888 e-mail: marta@dircon.co.uk
(Any of the above telephone are always transferred to wherever I go.)
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