NOTHING IS LOST!

[Of Special Interest to Children]

MARY M. ANDERSON

One summer day Irwin and his parents, who were Christian Scientists, left home to spend their vacation at the seashore. Irwin liked sports, but, best of all, he liked swimming.

Before they left home, his father handed Irwin a package. Inside was an underwater swimming mask. It was something Irwin had wanted for a long time. He thanked his father and promised to take good care of it.

When the family reached the sea-shore, Irwin ran down to the water to try out his new mask. Through it he saw all kinds of curious fish and shellfish on the ocean floor. The goggles made everything very clear.

Later on, some of his friends asked Irwin to ride across in their motorboat to the sand bar on the other side of the wide current. Irwin took his new mask along, for he did not want to lose it.

The bottom of the boat was full of water, and he used the mask to help bail the water out. Afterward, he laid the mask down. When the boat reached the other side, Irwin discovered that on the way over his mask had fallen into the swiftly moving tide.

He felt bad about it. And when he and his friends returned to shore, he ran to his mother and told her what had happened.

"Oh, Mother," he cried, "I've lost my new goggles."

His mother's first words were: "Now, Irwin, we know in Christian Science that nothing rightfully ours can ever be lost. God fills all space. He is All-presence. You are His beloved child, and He loves you. He will guide you, and you will find your mask."

When they returned to their house, his mother opened the Bible and turned to the sixth chapter of II Kings. Then she read the story of Elisha and the man who had lost the head of his ax in the water. Elisha, who was a devout man of God, restored the iron axhead to the woodsman. Also, Irwin and his mother remembered that Christ Jesus had said (Matt. 10:26), "There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."

Much comforted, they both returned to look for the mask. The tide had started to recede, and it seemed like a hopeless task. Suddenly Irwin's mother spied something that looked like brown seaweed lying on the sandy bottom of the water. She touched it with her foot. Sure enough, it was the mask, party buried in the sand where the swift current ran out to sea.

"I've found it, Irwin," she shouted across the water. How happy he was to hear that! It was indeed wonderful proof that when we understand God's omnipresence, nothing we value can be lost.

Later Irwin said, "Mother, it's true what I learned in Sunday School, that God is 'the great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.'" This definition of God is given by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, on page 587 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Together, Irwin and his mother rejoiced and gave thanks for the teachings of Christian Science, which had enabled them to understand and prove the ever-presence of God.

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