Editorial August 19, 1905 Issue

Divine Guidance

Annie M. Knott

To be always sure of divine guidance would give courage in the face of asserted danger, but the sense of timidity and uncertainty which is so prevalent shows that mortals generally do not understand how to avail themselves of it. An experienced pilot, in speaking of the religious beliefs of seafaring men, said that many of them pray fervently when the winds blow, but through fear and a lack of skill in seamanship, they often down their sails at the very time that the greatest progress might be made. In the last Sentinel (August 12) there is an interesting testimony, given by Captain Blackmore, which shows the value of spiritual understanding in a time of threatening danger. In describing the conditions to be met, he says,—

"We were blocked in the ice nine hundred miles southeast of Cape Horn. It was winter, and we had but a few hours' daylight. To mortal sense it seemed that nothing I could do would save the ship, with all on board, from destruction. Before night set in, I went into my chart-house and asked God, in spiritual prayer, to guide me out of this danger. I received my answer, which was contrary to all nautical experience, but I acted on it at once, and when daylight came I then had the proof that God had saved the ship from destruction. Daylight revealed to all that the course which the ship had sailed over was now completely blocked with icebergs from five hundred to a thousand feet high."

In this case the courage needed to go boldly forward was no mere bravado, but it sprang from the assurance of divine guidance and protection, based upon the understanding of the power which stills "the raging of the sea." Before such a recognition of Truth, danger departs as darkness before the light. This understanding of God's ever-presence and all-power brings a wonderful lucidity of thought, which enables us to go forward in every emergency, with calm reliance upon divine wisdom. The experience referred to recalls that of St. Paul, when on his way to Rome. Here nautical skill neither foresaw the danger nor was able to cope with it, but the brave apostle was divinely guided, and though only a prisoner, in passage, he was able to give the counsel which saved the lives of all on board. His stirring words to his associates in peril may well arouse to higher issues those who have a waning sense of faith in God. He told them of a divine promise of guidance and safety, and said, "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."

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