Article May 9, 1983 Issue

Pillows for stones

DORIS KING HILTON

At sunset the young man had come as far as he could. His leaving home to escape the vengeful wrath of a wronged brother had brought him to a lonely spot. For perhaps the first time in his life he faced the hard reality of an uncertain future in unfamiliar surroundings, unsheltered by family and friends. The Bible story of Jacob continues by stating in the simplest way, "And he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows."^{Gen. 28:11.}

What a difference there is between a stone and a pillow! One is hard, unyielding; the other offers comfortable support and rest. In a metaphysical sense, how can a stone become a pillow? In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, tells us: "Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul."^{Science and Health, p. 269.}

On a particular occasion, when the story of Jacob was a part of the Bible Lesson as outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, I was reaching out for new insight. What suddenly struck me was that there was a prerequisite, a condition, if you will, that Jacob fulfilled before inspiration came to him. The clue, I felt, was given in the statement about his using stones for pillows. Might this not symbolize for us the prayerful way of taking a difficult situation, refusing to accept it as such, and instead, by reversing the arguments (whatever they are), making the tough trial bless us?

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