Buoys

[Written Especially for Young People]

FRANCES R. CORNER

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 24) Mary Baker Eddy speaks of making the Bible "the chart of life, where the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed out."

When taking a boat trip one sometimes notices large, dome-shaped objects floating on the water, each one anchored in its place. They are buoys, and show the navigator the safe course to follow. All ships carry charts or maps to show where to expect buoys and what to learn from them.

Buoys are of various colors. Some have bells and some whistles, which sound as they bob on the surface. Some carry lanterns, so that they can be seen at night. Some mark danger spots, such as rocks or sand bars near the surface. Some show the deepest part of the channel, and others safe places for ships to anchor. The navigator heeds these signals, so that he may bring his ship safely to its destination.

As young students of Christian Science we may think of ourselves as beginning a mental journey over the sea of human experience to our real home, the kingdom of heaven—to be found in the complete understanding of God.

We learn in Christian Science that God is Love, and that He is everywhere. We learn, too, that God is good, that He is the only creator, and that all that He made is good, like Himself; that we are His children, and that He takes loving, tender care of all, always. The Bible says, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works."

We learn, too, that God is Mind, and that all right ideas, good thoughts, come from Him alone; that He is Truth, and that only the good is true. Our mental journey consists of opportunities to prove what we know about God and His creation.

Whether our journey is rough or calm, whether we run into reefs or stay safely in the proper channel, depends upon the kind of thinking we are doing. Sometimes we forget we are children of God and allow false beliefs to enter our consciousness. Error claims to make us sick, disobedient, selfish, unhappy, and seems to try in this and many other ways to draw us away from the deep, safe course of true, spiritual thinking. But we need to know that error, as its name implies, is nothing—a belief in something other than good. And because error is not true, it has no power.

Only what God knows about us is true, and God knows only good. By refusing to believe in error as real, and keeping our consciousness filled with loving, intelligent, helpful ideas, we make joyous progress in our understanding of God and our true individuality.

The Bible says, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Mrs. Eddy defines "angels," in part, as "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect" (Science and Health, p. 581). These intuitions are our buoys, turning us away from belief in error to where the "healing currents of Truth are pointed out." Just as clearly as the whistle or bell from a buoy can be heard by the navigator of a ship, just so clearly can we hear thoughts coming to us from God, as we listen spiritually. The Bible and Science and Health are our chart and compass, and the more we consult them, the safer and happier our voyage will be.

May we meekly and lovingly listen for the thoughts with which God, Love, is always supplying His children; so that we shall reach the safe harbor of the kingdom of God. As our beloved Leader writes in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 152), "Into His haven of Soul there enters no element of earth to cast out angels, to silence the right intuition which guides you safely home."

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