We can perceive and experience freedom, security, and guidance even amidst the hustle and bustle. Why? Because “spiritual guides,” as Mary Baker Eddy describes angels (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 299), are independent of time and space. However, it can take some listening practice in order to be able to discern these spiritual intuitions and to distinguish between human reasoning and divine guidance.
I had an experience that illustrates this. On a warm afternoon I was strolling across the Theresienwiese, as the fairground of the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany, is called. The fairground is located in between the train station and the subway station (where I needed to board a train to my final destination), and I was happy to have the opportunity to visit the festival once again—it had been many years since my last visit. It was fun to watch the crowds dressed in their dirndl dresses and lederhosen (traditional leather shorts) milling about the noisy fairground with its wide array of attractions.
I was wearing a backpack that contained my belongings, and halfway across the fairground, I began to feel an increasingly sharp pain in my hips—despite taking a break at a sweet-dumpling stand. The backpack was heavy, but I had carried it several times in the past without any problems, which was why I found it surprising that this time I would experience problems walking. Toward the end of the fairground, and apart from the crowds, I took another break and put the backpack down. From one of the attractions I heard loud laughter—it was a “Fun House,” and a loud voice promised that it would make you laugh. A timely invitation to be lighthearted.
