Oh, no! There it went—my friend’s brand-new cellphone—over the side of her kayak and into the lake. The water was only about five feet deep, but the lake floor was too soft to support the weight of a person, so we four friends in four kayaks gently searched the ground beneath us with our paddles. After 15 minutes someone voiced the concern of whether the phone would even work. The owner of the cellphone decided to consider it lost, and she drifted away from the spot.
But I wasn’t ready to paddle away, leaving a useful and expensive tool in the water. I felt certain that the ever-present goodness of God was there. Psalm 139 says: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (verses 7–10).
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, writes: “No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 277). This was how I felt that day on the lake—a conviction of the presence of good right where we were.
I began to discuss possible steps for the retrieval of the phone with one of my friends. Eventually we located it, and she was able to grab the phone with her toes and bring it to the surface. And the phone worked and continues to work properly to this day! I was inspired by my friend’s tenacity to solve the problem, and later she told me she’d felt a sureness of success from me.
I felt aware of the activity of good that day. I knew from the psalm mentioned above that God was present, and by understanding God to be all good, it was clear to me that good was the only force in action.
By understanding God to be all good, it was clear to me that good was the only force in action.
Christ Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). I strive to learn from Jesus’ teachings, and in that situation I felt sure that God was present, and therefore good was not only possible but as present as God.
My unwavering acceptance of these spiritual facts did not allow me to give up. I humbly treasure that conviction as a gift from God, with which I was able to support others in seeing goodness manifested.
Seven months later, living with a rift in my family, I wondered if I could have that unwavering confidence in God’s presence. I had tried to orchestrate a solution to the family problem numerous times. Finally, I came to see that that was not my role. The conviction that good is present had felt so real to me on a beautiful smooth lake, on a lovely day, with three convivial friends. Could good really be present here at home with a discordant family situation and the holidays approaching?
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: ‘Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus’ ” (p. 276).
Fear began to melt away when I aligned my thinking with the fact that God, Spirit—not conflicting human personalities—is in control, and that God is intelligent and available to everyone. I prayed to see that good comes from God and therefore is the only force here, there, and everywhere. I followed the directions from this sentence in Science and Health: “St. Paul wrote, ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us;’ that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing” (p. 20).
Within a week, there was an unplanned and unexpected meeting of the relatives involved, and clear communication was reestablished.
That very day, I received a text message indicating movement toward healing of the family discord. I continued to affirm the presence of God’s good expression, no matter what. Within a week, there was an unplanned and unexpected meeting of the relatives involved, and clear communication was reestablished. I could not have arranged this meeting. I could not have planned its timing so perfectly. This was evidence of good unfolding according to God, who is divine Mind. I saw clearly that good is present, regardless of location or circumstance.
Certainly it can seem that good is absent from particular places. So we are called on daily to stick with that firm conviction that God is everywhere, undefined by space or by time, and this will lead to a conviction that good must be ever present, too.
Holding to these spiritual facts brought harmony to my friends and me at the lake that day, and to my family and me months later. And holding to them can bring harmony to every circumstance we might face.
