How Prayer Dissolves the Mist

THE area in which we live is surrounded by beautiful mountains and hills. There is a lovely lake just a little beyond our favorite mountain that we visit quite often. During the trip to the lake, we see a huge majestic rock, which protrudes from the side of the mountain and is known for many miles around as a very challenging climb to mountain climbers. We always look for the rock and see who can find it first.

During one of our trips, my husband remarked that he couldn't see the rock because of a heavy mist covering the mountaintop. Never for an instant did either of us think anything had happened to the rock. We both realized that all that was needed was for the mist to disperse. After spending two or three hours at the lake, we started down the mountain. By now the sun was shining brightly, the mist had dispersed, and sure enough, there was that rock, right where it had always been.

In Genesis the Bible speaks of a ``mist'' obscuring our view of creation. We read: ``There went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.'' Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, explains that Truth dissolves this mortal mist, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. ``Corporeal sense, or error,'' she writes, ``may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine

of Truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.''

So it is with our human experience. So many times the mist of materiality seems to hide God's perfect, spiritual creation. But turning to God in prayer, as Christ Jesus' example showed us, begins to dissolve the mist of materiality, and we see that God's perfect spiritual creation is always right here and intact. As we understand more fully the allness of God and the nothingness of evil, the mist evaporates. Sometimes this comes about quickly; other times it may take longer for us to realize the presence

of God. But this truth is free to all who accept it.

We had an experience in our home many years ago in which I saw how quickly and reliably Truth overcomes error. My son, who was ten at the time, had been attending a Christian Science Sunday School for about three years. He loved Christian Science and often prayed as he had been learning to in Sunday School. He and I had been preparing an evening meal together when I inadvertently picked up a very hot frying pan with my bare hand. The pain was excruciating. My son went into the next room, and I saw him si t down and close his eyes. I knew he was praying, as I was, and I was so grateful that he knew how to turn to God so confidently. In a few minutes the pain ceased.

What had happened? My son had seen through the mist of materiality, and healing had followed. Later, I asked him what he had done, and he said, ``I knew there was no intelligence, or substance, or life, or even any truth in that lie of pain about your hand. I thanked him for his help and we both thanked God for a beautiful healing.

Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health, ``Befogged in error (the error of believing that matter can be intelligent for good or evil), we can catch clear glimpses of God only as the mists disperse, or as they melt into such thinness that we perceive the divine image in some word or deed which indicates the true idea,--the supremacy and reality of good, the nothingness and unreality of evil.'' Prayer is what melts the mists of error for us, assuring us that God's kingdom is already at hand.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to How Prayer Dissolves the Mist
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0309/09171.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe