Not long ago I was traveling with a tour group in Switzerland. Each member of the group had purchased a special travel pass before leaving the United States. (It entitled the holder to board any train, boat, or bus operated by the government of that country, to any destination within it, for a specified period of time, and without purchasing tickets.) It was recognized that if anyone should lose his special travel pass, he would have to drop out of the group, because the group—not having to purchase tickets—would be transferring from one mode of transportation to another under such closely scheduled connections that there wouldn't be time for one to find the ticket office, purchase a ticket, and then rejoin the group before its departure. Switzerland is known for the precision operation of its transportation systems.
Late one afternoon, somewhere during our visit to a small town where hundreds of tourists had gathered, I discovered that my pass was missing. And we were scheduled to depart that town at 7:30 the next morning by train. Recalling the events of the day, I realized that the pass had probably been dropped somewhere along a wooded mountain trail where we had been hiking for several hours, but it was too late to retrace my steps. I felt nagged by questions: Suppose a stranger should find the pass. Where would he turn it in? And how would I know where to pick it up?
Locating the pass, at this point, looked impossible. Then I began to reason in Christian Science. The infinity of God as Spirit means there is no reality in matter. What we humanly see as a material object, whether it is a travel document or a granite mountain, is only a material belief. And Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 60), "Every material belief hints the existence of spiritual reality.."
