I have been a student of Christian Science for many years. I have also been a Master Mariner and Harbor Pilot for many years. Bringing the wonderful truth of Christian Science to sea has resulted in many beautiful demonstrations. The practicality, the effectiveness, and the instant results of applied Christian Science have been proven many times in relation to ship handling and wartime incidents that could have been disastrous except for the ever-present protection of divine Principle, Love.
The ship of which I was master is an American supertanker with an all-American crew. On one occasion the ship was in ballast, bound from France to Trinidad. The vessel was steaming on only one boiler. While in the Bay of Biscay, off the northwest coast of Spain, we received hurricane warnings. Our intended course put the ship on a collision course with a hurricane. With one boiler! For any ship, this combination was filled with danger. The deviation of a ship from its intended course, by the master, is a most serious decision, filled with many legal ramifications. This decision to change course is never undertaken without valid reasons, such as saving life, the ship or its cargo, or equally serious considerations.
After all the human factors were properly evaluated, I prayed for guidance. I kept thinking (Prov. 3:5, 6): "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. and he shall direct thy paths'; and (Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, p. 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." Being fortified with the knowledge that God was directing us and keeping us, I saw clearly that the only thing to do was to change course radically to North, prepare a hurricane watch, and keep the storm's moving position plotted. This was done at once.
