Throughout their progress in the study of Christian Science, the Science of Mind, students have many experiences of God's guidance. This is very evident when the students are serving in the Armed Forces. Just about all their experiences indicate that the time spent in military service can be an opportunity for overcoming problems, challenging oneself and one's knowledge of Science in overcoming personal strife; in fact, in just plain growing up.

In my own experience I have sensed God's watchfulness protecting me from discord, danger, and unpleasantness in the hard, disciplined world of the Army. The thought that best describes how I have been thinking about my daily military life is, "God is keeping an eye on me."

During hot summer days I was drafted and sent into basic training. I was instructed in hand-to-hand combat and introduced to the use of a rifle and taught effects of chemical warfare. Through it all was the constant argument of heat fatigue. But the most persistent problem of all was the continual conflict with one particular sergeant, who made life so miserable for me that I grew to dislike him intensely.

Army life was overwhelming for me, so new, so different, and I knew I couldn't make it without some help. So I began reading Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. I wrote down many citations so I could remember them or refer to them quickly. One passage stood out because it seemed to be a special message to those who really believe in God. It reads: "Christians rejoice in secret beauty and bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God." ^{Science and Health, p. 15;}

When I was running with the troops in 95-degree heat with that certain sergeant in charge and felt I couldn't last any longer, I spoke this truth aloud and thought about it. I felt new energy as a result. My legs began to run again, and breathing was easier. I didn't become an expert endurance runner, but I was carried through extreme difficulties to the final goal.

At the end of basic training only four others in my platoon and I received a stripe. I asked one of the noncoms who had recommended me for promotion. The individual was pointed out to me —the very sergeant who drove me so mercilessly and whom I thought I hated. He came over, patted me on the back, and offered me a beer. I refused the beer politely but accepted his gesture of friendship. He was smiling! "You tried, son," he said to me. "Boy, did you try!"

So, at the very beginning of my Army duty I realized that God had been keeping an eye on me. For those going into the Army it is helpful to understand that God's protection is always instantly available and that He is watching over them at all times.

During what might be called the second phase of my experience, I learned about self-pity and found out what cold really was like. I was camped on a Missouri mountain during maneuvers in early December when the temperature was sub-zero. In the briefings beforehand I had learned about frostbite, its causes and effects.

One night on midnight guard my hands began to get sore, then numb with the cold. With difficulty I opened Science and Health and read some of the chapter on Physiology, which deals with physical conditions and explains why they are unknown to God. My hands rapidly became normal, the soreness, instead of becoming intense, went away, and I had no aftereffects at all.

As the time for the Christmas holidays and overseas duty approached, I became much concerned. My mental outlook was poor, and the way things began to shape up made me forget God's watchfulness. But the problems I began to encounter made me realize more than ever that we must never at any time feel God has deserted us. The evidence of God's care, if we continue in His Word, will finally be apparent.

I received my overseas shots all at once. I had been mentally and physically unprepared for them and had been very fearful of all that might be in store for me. I awoke at dawn delirious and with a high fever. I was taken to the hospital nearby.

To make matters even worse, the Christmas holidays were only eight days away, and the administrator said the chances of my getting to spend a few days with my family before I shipped out were zero. I was discouraged beyond measure.

Several times I conferred on the telephone with my family. Really, the worst part of my condition was self-pity, which seemed at first impossible to overcome. But an odd thing took place. The self-pity gradually turned to anger, and the more angry I got, the better I felt. It broke the mesmerism of selfishness and inertia.

Mrs. Eddy speaks of fever in the chapter entitled "Christian Science Practice." I found the following pertinent line: "Fevers are errors of various types." ^{p. 379;} In another chapter I read, "The human thought must free itself from self-imposed materiality and bondage." ^{p. 191;} I then realized this bondage was self-imposed because of my various types of materialistic thinking. My thoughts became clearer, my temperature returned to normal, and I was released in time to go home to my family.

Then I realized why my anger had seemed to put me on the right track. Actually, I was angry at error, and at the belief that allowed mortal mind to let error take charge of me. At one time Christ Jesus turned on the Pharisees, who stood ready to accuse him if he should heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day. We read: "When he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other."^{Mark 3:5.}

There was still another phase of the problem unsolved. I seemed destined for overseas duty in a combat zone, and this scared me. The uncertainty of it was always creeping in.

"The Lord has watched over me this far," I thought, "and He won't quit now. The watchfulness of God can't be determined by a locality." I became assured that our real relationship to God doesn't change, war zone or not. At the last minute my orders were changed. I was shipped with a small detachment to Germany, where I was assigned to the kind of job I had always wanted, one I was best equipped to do.

Anyone who has an awareness of God's presence can be abundantly helped. Perhaps that is what is true in my case, and my experience can best be compared to the Wisemen just following the star until they found the Messiah.

When people ask me how I'm getting along in the service, I assure them I'm okay. God is definitely keeping an eye on me.