Fred steadied himself against the roll of the ship, for the winds were strong, and the seas, which were running high, were breaking over the gunwales and coming inboard. He looked around and saw that the ship was tossing and rolling in every conceivable way and apparently making no headway. Utensils and other gear, which had broken from their stowage positions, were crashing back and forth in cabins and mess deck alike.

Going to the side, he looked over the rails into the seething water. He saw no reflection there, only the stormy, tossing waves, whipping themselves into fury. Then he looked up and saw the usual sea gulls flying in the wake of the ship. He watched them moving in the currents of wind. They did not beat the air. There was no movement of their outstretched wings, but they were borne swiftly along on the wind.

As he watched, and saw the effortless movement above, and the angry sea with its material confusion and destruction below, there came to his consciousness these words from one of Mary Baker Eddy's poems (Poems, p. 12):

He thought: "Well, I certainly have 'earth's troubled, angry sea' below me: but apart from all this I know that there is the invisible presence and power of the Christ, which is beyond the reach of all material conditions, and whose law is demonstrable and a substantial fact; and it is no part of this confusion. I know, too, that Christ is able to

Now material confusion and noise had been arguing to Fred's consciousness that he could not study under such conditions. When he realized this, he immediately decided to do some right thinking about it; so he went below to his bunk and got out his books. These books, the Bible and all Mrs. Eddy's works, show us how to apply God's law to any material condition, and this law had met his human needs many times before.

He opened the Bible and came across these words: "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Who was this "he" who arose? Fred knew it was the Christ; so opening "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, he found on page 583 the metaphysical interpretation of "Christ": "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error."

Through previous study, Fred had learned that the most marvelous healing feature of Christian Science is the simplicity of its application, in seeing Truth replacing error, and realizing that all discordant things are merely false pictures. He knew that man is God's spiritual idea, His reflection. Then he thought: If we are willing to pay the price for a good mirror, it will give us a perfect image of the object in front of it. Man does not need time in order to reflect the divine power and protection. He does so naturally, inevitably, and our ability to demonstrate this fact in human experience is immediate and forever available. There is no need to beat the air, to struggle or fight. We just have to see God as He is, and know that His is the only law. When we know, we reflect, and when we reflect, we suddenly find that there is nothing to heal and never was, for nothing has ever happened to the real creation.

He examined all these thoughts which had come into his consciousness, and he realized that as soon as he saw the truth, no power on earth could stop him from manifesting or demonstrating harmony and peace.

When the sun rose in the morning, Fred went on deck to help prepare for a job they had to do that day, which was to take on oil from another ship. Although it was mid-winter and they were in mid-ocean, the sea was perfectly calm and the sun was shining. Looking over the side he saw in the stillness of the waters the reflection of things above, and there were the gulls, still gliding swiftly to and fro. The ship carried out satisfactorily the maneuver of taking on oil, owing to the calmness that prevailed, and other ships also enjoyed this stillness. A brother officer turned and said, "Just right for taking on oil, but rather freak weather for the time of year and the place, don't you think?" Fred smiled. He knew that "oil" in the spiritual sense is, as Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 592), "Consecration; charity; gentleness: prayer; heavenly inspiration;" and he knew, too, that as we realize this fact we have that calmness and peace "which passeth all understanding," and our surroundings reflect the beauty and order which are Christ's alone.

This understanding, when applied, becomes a very part of our being, and enables us to manifest harmony in all our thoughts and actions. When we have completed one task successfully, we have proved that Principle is demonstrable and the fruit of this understanding cannot be taken away from us, for Principle and its laws are everlasting. Fred was able to test this truth, for, having worked out the problem once, he could apply the same rule to a similar experience a short time later.

The ship had been to sea for five days in a high gale, which had piled up mountainous seas. On the sixth day they had to oil. This operation usually lasted about six hours, and it would have been impossible to carry out this task if the high seas had continued. The same thoughts were applied as before, for the sailor knew that they were of God, good.

The dawn came, bringing with it a quiet, calm sea, much to the amazement of everyone, and the ship took on its oil. After the work was finished, the gale blew again with unabated force, and the sea lashed itself into all its former fury. The ship had received oil, however, and could fight these adverse elements, and Fred was happy in the thought that, when there was a problem to meet and one knew and applied the true idea of God and creation, the result was a spontaneous reflection of harmony and peace.