One of the much-loved promises of the Bible is found in the eleventh verse of the ninety-first Psalm: "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." In the girl-hood home of the writer there hung a picture of a little boy walking across a log which had fallen six or seven feet above a rushing stream. Beside the child was a traditional picture of an angel with beautiful face and long white wings. The angel was not actually touching the small boy, but one felt the encircling care and knew that the child would not be allowed to slip.

Mary Baker Eddy gives us in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," a new concept of angels, defining them thus (p. 581): "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality." In accepting this definition we can expect spiritual intuitions to come to us directly from God, and we early learn to know that these pure and perfect intuitions not only direct but protect our footsteps in all that we do.

An illustration of this protection came one afternoon when two little boys were on their way into the country with their grandmother to watch the trains go by on a transcontinental road. Driving towards the valley where the tracks ran, they were followed by a motorcycle ridden by two men. The motorcycle wove back and forth from one side of the road to the other, part of the time following close behind the automobile and then lagging well to the rear. The driving was so erratic that one of the little boys said, "Sometimes people get hurt when they ride like that." The grandmother replied, "There are no accidents in divine Mind," and the smaller boy answered, "God takes care of everyone." It occurred to the grandmother that the idea of there being no accidents in divine Mind was a big statement to make to such a small boy. Then the thought came that if he was old enough to hear of error he was old enough to know the truth.

As they approached a street crossing, the grandmother found herself intuitively bringing the automobile to a full stop. So great was the noise of the motorcycle that it was impossible to tell where it was. Suddenly it rushed at full speed past the automobile on the wrong side of the car. Had the automobile, which at that intersection had the right of way, proceeded as would have been the natural thing to do, the motorcyclists would have been thrown into the ditch against the cement culvert. The small boys looked at their grandmother in astonishment. Recognizing what a reckless thing the motorcyclists had done, one of the children said, "Wasn't that a naughty thing for them to do, Grandmother?" and then added, "But God did take care of all of us anyway, didn't He?"

When the grandmother said that there are no accidents in divine Mind, she had in thought the passage in Science and Health (p. 424) where Mrs. Eddy writes: "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony. Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection."

In the incident just related the suggestion of a possible accident was instantly reversed by the declaration of a scientific truth. Another illustration of the value of reversing error occurred a few weeks later in the experience of the same grandmother. She awoke one night about two o'clock and found the prongs of her engagement ring pressing against her cheek. She instantly corrected the suggestion, "I have lost my diamond," by declaring the spiritual fact, "There can be no loss in divine Mind."

Rejecting the suggestion to get up and turn on all the lights, which would have excited and disturbed the whole household, she lay quietly, letting God's thoughts direct her reasoning. It occurred to her that her diamond was a symbol of affection and regard, and that as she still had the affection and regard perhaps the symbol was no longer needed. But she realized that such an argument would have admitted loss, and she immediately reversed it by remembering that Mrs. Eddy teaches that since God does not create discord, it is nonexistent.

Next came the suggestion that a new diamond could be purchased to replace the original gem and no one would know the difference. This was instantly rejected because it would involve deceit, and Christian Science demonstrations cannot be worked out by deceit. It then became clear that Mind is ever inspiring, illumining, designating, and leading the way. She further realized that because in God's kingdom everything is at all times under the protection of divine Mind, the suggestion that there is a human order in which something could become lost and not found was without foundation. After about an hour of such prayerful work she fell asleep with the words "seeking and finding" repeating themselves in her consciousness.

When she awoke, sunlight was streaming in the window and she arose to pull the window shade down in the room where one of her grandsons lay sleeping. Stopping to look at the child, she saw the diamond lying on the floor. She stooped to pick it up with a deep sense of gratitude, not only that her diamond was found, but that step by step each suggestion of error had been replaced with a statement of truth, and that as a result of her obedience divine Love had indeed shown her the way.

These two illustrations show that both the little children and their elders are wise enough to apply the truth they learn in Christian Science and so let divine guidance bring harmonious answers to their problems. Each problem worked out as the result of utilizing spiritual law instead of depending on human ways and means brings to humanity renewed assurance of Truth's availability as well as a glorious sense of peace.

Both experiences can be linked together in the words of Mrs. Eddy's poem entitled "Mother's Evening Prayer" (Poems, p. 4), frequently sung as a hymn in Christian Science churches: