Article July 27, 1912 Issue

"UNFATHOMABLE SEA."

MAURICE KENNEDY

In her book "Retrospection and Introspection (p. 57), Mrs. Eddy writes: "Divine Science demands mighty wrestlings with mortal beliefs, as we sail into the eternal haven over the unfathomable sea of possibilities." Of all the many joys and comforting assurances which we gain by the demonstration of Christian Science, perhaps none is more gratifying or more far-reaching in its beneficial effect than the consciousness of possessing a perfect, unfailing divine Principle and a clearly-marked chart of life. To gain at last an infallible guide by which it is possible with scientific certainty to distinguish what is true from what is false, is an unspeakable satisfaction to the disheartened, perplexed, and thought-weary seeker for Truth, who has struggled long in the "unfathomable sea of possibilities."

To the unguided human thought any theory can be made to take on the semblance of truth. Given a sufficiently strong belief in the truth of the false premise on which it is based, any course of human conduct, no matter how strangely distorted in fact, may become seemingly right and good. A process of mental argument with one's self may produce in experience certain looked-for effects, the logical outcome of the accepted belief, and these appear to the deluded thought as "proofs"; but sooner or later comes the awakening to the fact of the delusion, and thought, retracing its steps, finds that its starting-point was but a baseless assumption. The endless multiplicity of such false premises, such wrong starting-points for unguided thought, leading only to disappointment, confusion, and despair, is aptly termed by Mrs. Eddy the "unfathomable sea of possibilities."

Unfathomable, indeed, are the deceptive possibilities of the fundamental error of mortal mind, which declares life, truth, intelligence, and substance to be in matter. Without the guidance of divine Principle it is impossible to navigate this unfathomable sea. Driving wildly ahead before the strong wind of some blind enthusiasm, striking against the jagged rocks of disillusionment, drifting rudderless with the currents of sensualism, or caught in the whirlpool of utter mental confusion, mortals are as a ship without chart or compass—"tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine," to quote St. Paul. What a delight, then, to lay hold of the chart and compass of Christian Science! Though the "wrestlings" are not over, the confident assurance of ultimate victory places them in an entirely different light.

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