As a novice sailor, I quickly learned to respect ocean currents. On one of our early coastal cruises I volunteered to take a turn at the helm. We were sailing in a broad channel between two sparsely populated islands. The sails were full, the boat was heeling, and water was rushing past. It looked as if we were making good progress.
But an hour later when my husband came back on deck he exclaimed, "We're standing still!" Without realizing it, I had been bucking a current whose strength equaled our forward thrust. We adjusted our course to break free of its pull. After this experience I was more alert to check tide tables for information about the strength and direction of currents.
This has been an important lesson on land too. I've often thought of this experience in the light of Mrs. Eddy's statement "Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind." Unity of Good, p. 11.
