A PARTY making a journey by motor bus traveled all one foggy night through the mountains of one of the eastern states of America, the highway winding around very steep grades, with heavy timber on either side of the road. The fog was so dense that the lights of the car seemed to shine against a gray wall. But so sure was the driver of his ability to cross the mountain pass on a dark, foggy night that his confidence was shared by his passengers. At every curve and at very frequent intervals the horn was sounded in friendly warning to other travelers along the way. When the summit of the range was reached, a stop was made so that the passengers might view the scenery in the bright starlight. They had climbed above the fog, and from that elevated position they could look down on the clouds far below. The air was clear; the stars were bright; the vision far-reaching. Soon the journey was resumed, the descent began, and again fog enveloped the car; but to several passengers who were students of Christian Science the experience taught a lesson so helpful that the journey was much enjoyed.
When in our everyday affairs thought becomes engrossed with the illusion of material things to the exclusion of the realities of Spirit, are we not seemingly in a mental fog? Do we not at times find our vision so obscured that we can see neither ahead nor in any other direction? Our dear Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, says in her textbook, ''Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 299), "Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks."
If we climb high enough, we shall rise above the material mist or fog. So, if we look above and away from matter, we can always find God, infinite Mind. One thing absolutely necessary for progress is spiritual vision. We are told in Proverbs, "Where there is no vision, the people perish;" and, conversely, we may say that where there is clear spiritual vision there is immortality.
When vision is obscured by the mist of materiality, how distorted appears our human sense of things! Trials and problems loom before us mountain high, and our opportunities and blessings seem so few, so meager! But, turning the powerful searchlight of Truth and Love on the situation, we gain a true view of ourselves as God's reflection. Trials melt away, and opportunities for expressing divine, God-given ideas are revealed right at hand, rich in blessings. How clearly our Leader voices this thought in "No and Yes" (p. 16), where she says, "The mists of matter—sin, sickness, and death— disappear in proportion as mortals approach Spirit, which is the reality of being"!
The questions of position and place have frequently to be faced by the student. We may be sure we are in our right place when we are conscious of the tender presence of divine Love leading us on toward the summit of realization, where there is never any mist of doubt, fear, and materiality, and where the clear sunlight of Truth is revealed. From this exalted standpoint we can look down on the erroneous claims and temptations with perfect calm, because we then realize our dominion over those adverse circumstances which had seemed so real. In the words of a hymn,
"Dreams of sense disappear
As Truth dawns on the sight,
The phantoms of thy fear,
Fleeing before the light."
As the lights of the car referred to above revealed only the highway at hand on that foggy night, so we should not look into the future, but well into the present, the to-day, and leave the to-morrow where it rightly belongs—in God's hands. As we make the best of to-day we shall make to-morrow better. It is well frequently to "stop, look, and listen." When we stop and take our stand anew for Principle, deny and repudiate error, we behold the light of holy inspiration shining through the fog of fear, discouragement, and disease. Then we listen and catch the loving call of infinite divine Love assuring us, as Paul said, that "there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Light alone can penetrate darkness and dispel it. We always have our light with us when we are conscious of the presence of God, infinite Spirit. "In thy light shall we see light." Our dear Master came as a light to the world to dispel the darkness of ignorance, the mist of materialism, and the fog of fear and superstition. "I am the light of the world," he said: "he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In the freedom that dawns on the awakened consciousness, Jesus' teachings, whenever obeyed and followed, lift from mankind the fetters of fear, sin, disease, and even "the last enemy"—death. No phase of error, however subtle or commonly accepted as real, can withstand the powerful light of Truth.
As recorded in the Bible, the experience of Saul, later renamed Paul, furnishes a splendid example of emergence from the fog of misunderstanding and evil deeds into the light of a glorious career through obedience to the demands of Spirit. This story is very dear to Bible students. Saul, his spiritual vision darkened by prejudice and superstition, persecuted the Christians. On his journey to Damascus, undertaken for that purpose, he was suddenly surrounded by an extremely bright light, which blinded him. A voice spoke to him, which he knew was that of the Lord, saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" He mentally awakened, and obeyed the instruction which followed. After his healing by Ananias his vision became clear; and from that time his life-purpose was to do good, to preach the gospel and heal the sick.
We are all travelers on the great highway of human experience from sense to Soul, and many times the way seems so obscure, so veiled in uncertainty, that we feel enveloped in a thick fog of loneliness, doubt, and anxiety. But just where the fog seems thickest, right there we may find the angel of God's presence. By watching our thoughts more closely and praying more earnestly, with more love, faith, and humility, we find that the mists disperse: the light of ever present Love shines on our path, making our way clear and plain to us.
Does it not seem at times that a mental smoke screen has so befogged or mystified one that apparently there is no way out of a perplexing situation? Questions seem to throng one then, such as: Why do I not receive my healing? Why is my business unsuccessful? Why are the opportunities for service so limited? Let us see these questions and the conditions they imply—sin, sickness, lack, limitation, anxiety, as missiles of so-called mortal mind, which, when recognized as such, are proved as powerless to harm or deceive us as mist, fog, or smoke. Perhaps we may seem to be error's target, but when conscious of Love's ever-presence, we can never become its victim, for no shaft of evil can penetrate the armor of good thoughts.
Our release, our emergence from the fog of error, lies in righteous control of our thoughts. Hear the comforting words of our dear Leader in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 30): "Take courage, dear reader, for any seeming mysticism surrounding realism is explained in the Scripture, 'There went up a mist from the earth [matter];' and the mist of materialism will vanish as we approach spirituality, the realm of reality; cleanse our lives in Christ's righteousness; bathe in the baptism of Spirit, and awake in His likeness."
