One who is alert, calm, poised, and resourceful, irrespective of how urgent or portentous the pending problem seems to be, is said to have "presence of mind." He says and does the right thing at the right time. The capacity to draw upon God, infinite Mind, for the intelligence and confidence with which to meet the vicissitudes of human existence is available to all.
Christ Jesus above all others demonstrated presence of Mind. But he did not claim this power as his own, nor did he fear he might lose it. His great strength lay in his refusal to accept the belief in a limited, finite mind. He understood the one infinite Mind, God, to be the only Mind, which he reflected. This gave him fearlessness and untold power. When betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane, he confidently said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" To Pilate, who boasted of his power to crucify or release him, Jesus answered, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above." Herein lay his serenity and his poise, namely, in his recognition of man's present perfection as God's idea, continuously sustained by and reflecting infinite power, even ever-present Mind, God.
One can easily think of a mathematical truth, for instance five and five are ten, as being without beginning or end and existing everywhere at the same time. Joy, peace, strength, alertness—all spiritual qualities—are likewise present and available. Ideas are never separated from the parent Mind; so the Mind which expresses and sustains these qualities must also be ever present. Because Mind expresses infinite ideas it must be infinite. Hence, there can be but one supreme, all-inclusive, infinite Mind, from which all must proceed.
