Two years ago I took a group of students into an overseas country to pursue their study of the language of that country. As the trip was being planned, innumerable difficulties presented themselves. First, we were denied the program we presented to the authorities overseas, and the temptation was to withdraw altogether. I did not accept this denial as final, however, nor see it as a reason to abandon the trip. I decided to appeal to a higher source and pursue the efforts—in other words, to pray to God for guidance. All those involved in the arrangements of this trip agreed to this.
Everything pointed to the rightness of the project. Additional funds became available to help finance this unusually expensive trip. A replacement for me in the classroom was found in one of my former students, enabling me to be away. She welcomed the opportunity to teach and the blessings that came to her family as a result of this employment. Another former student agreed to accompany me as assistant. This experience helped him in his work toward a Ph.D. Benefits were to be reaped by all concerned. Step by step as the difficulties were ironed out, I was growing in the realization and understanding that God's plan for each of His children is already complete and perfect in Mind. This assurance sustained and supported me throughout the trip.
About a week before we were to leave, my daughter called me to tell me that she had an infection in her arm. She said that she hesitated to tell me this because of my forthcoming trip, but that the condition appeared serious. She could hardly move her arm. She was receiving prayerful help from a Christian Science practitioner. My immediate response was an outpouring of many powerful statements of truth that came flooding into my thought. Among them was this statement from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy (p. 463): "A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive." My daughter told me later that the truths and the conviction I shared with her lifted her right out of self-pity into confidence in the healing power of Christian Science.
