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The shark in the stream
An article titled “The shark we saved,” written by William Deane and published in the April 19, 2010, Sentinel, concludes: “When God’s law of love overcomes fear, the predator can become the graceful creature it’s made to be.” Those words proved true in my experience when, later that year, I had my own encounter with a shark while walking on the beach near my house.
I was walking along the inlet that leads from the bay to a salt pond. As I followed the stream, I suddenly saw something black moving in the water. Of course, I wondered what it was, and, when I stopped to get a better look, I saw a bluish-black fish about three or four feet in length. Then I saw its dorsal fin and knew that it was a shark. I immediately realized that this shark was trying to swim against the incoming tide in order to get back to the saltwater bay. The water he was in was only about a foot deep, and brackish—he could not survive in it. I knew that I had to do something to help.
I should mention that during this whole experience I felt God, divine Mind, guiding both me and the shark. I wouldn’t otherwise have become involved in a situation with a potentially dangerous animal—but because I knew that God was directing my actions, I had no fear for my own safety or for the shark’s safety. I really felt that I had been placed exactly where I needed to be and exactly at the right time in order to help one of His creatures.
I had heavy clothes on as it was a fairly cold day, but I knew what I had to do. I stepped into the stream behind the shark and tried to “shuffle” him out to the bay. We made some progress but were working against the tide—several times it proved too much for the shark, pushing him back to the pond. Still praying to know how to proceed, I felt I would have to try something different. I got a grip on the shark’s tail and pulled to help him overcome the current. We had made a little progress when we suddenly ran into a sandbar. I pulled with all my might and was able to get the shark over the sandbar, and finally to the bay and safety. He was now free, and I was also fine despite the cold and my wet clothes. The shark had not once tried to bite or harm me in any way.
What a sense of wonder and exaltation I felt because I had been in the right place, at the right time, in order to be able to have a part in helping another one of God’s creatures. For many days afterward I was so grateful for the guidance and protection that both the shark and I experienced. I will never forget it.
I’m also grateful to have been led to Christian Science, and to be learning how God directs every minute of every day of our lives for good, and good alone.
—Paulette de Fere Van Vranken, Shelter Island Heights, New York