A Number of years ago I instructed a course in winter mountaineering. The course included a section on how to use a compass in a whiteout condition. A whiteout is a weather phenomenon caused by heavy cloud cover over snow. The amount of light coming through the clouds is the same as that reflected by the snow, which makes it very difficult to discern where the snow stops and the clouds begin. Visibility is reduced to only a few feet, depth perception and distance are distorted, and it is easy to lose your sense of direction.

After taking a compass bearing on the summit of the mountain, I explained that even if a whiteout developed, we would be able to find our way to the top as long as we kept to the compass bearing.

The next morning we found ourselves in a whiteout condition. Using our compass, we climbed directly to the summit of the mountain. Another group of climbers, who left at the same time but did not use a compass, arrived much later, exhausted and discouraged. They had been hiking at a fast pace for many hours. Apparently they had become disoriented and wandered several miles out of their way. My students learned a lesson from this experience, and I learned an even greater lesson later as I thought back on it.

We have all had experiences—in business, relationships, schooling, finding a job, or general day-to-day activities—where we didn't feel that we could see what to do next or how to solve certain problems. Sometimes we may feel as though we are in a whiteout of human experience, where the way to reach our goal is not visible and our sense of direction is unclear.

Just as it is necessary on a mountainside to start with a correct bearing and to keep heading in the right direction, so it is necessary in solving problems to reason from a correct basis and to act rightly.

The wrong basis of reasoning, which we may find ourselves using all too often, is to begin by thinking we have a problem that must be solved through our own personal resources. If we believe that permanent solutions can be found through mere intellect and effort, or through our contacts with other individuals, we are beginning from a material basis. And if we are willing to rely on these limited, human resources, we shouldn't be surprised to find that the results are also limited at best. To attempt to resolve a situation from a material basis could be compared to hiking in a whiteout without a compass and hoping we can find our way; nothing is certain.

In Christian Science we learn how to deal with a problem through spiritual means, and this is the most effective help. When we recognize God as the source of all intelligence, when we understand that nothing is impossible to Him, when we quiet human thinking and trust God to give us guidance beyond the comprehension of the limited human sense of things, we are working from a spiritual basis.

We can begin building this spiritual foundation by gaining a better understanding of God and man's relationship to Him. The Bible indicates that this relationship is that of Father and son, that God made man in His image and likeness. In other words, man reflects God. As we know from observing a reflection in a mirror, a reflection cannot do anything on its own; it can only respond to what the original is doing. As God's reflection, man can be conscious only of what Mind, Soul, already knows. All that God knows and does is always harmonious, good, spiritual, permanent, and perfect. Therefore, this perfect and harmonious activity must be evident in His reflection, man. Regardless of one's apparent human failings, the reality is that we spiritually are this man, now. Perfection is our true current status and eternal, spiritual nature, and it must not be confused with a material sense of things, which is temporary and limited.

Keeping our thinking in line with God, Truth, is like using a compass. It allows us to identify and demonstrate God's unchanging direction and loving care, because we are not guiding ourselves; we are simply following God, divine Principle, who never deviates. It is a false perspective, a material perception, which prevents us from seeing this and benefiting from its good results.

The physical senses can't perceive God or His image and likeness. They present existence as being separate from Spirit. These senses lead us away from God and the sure direction He lovingly provides. Therefore, we must turn away from a material perception of things and seek only our true, spiritual selfhood, the reflection of Principle.

To better understand why this is necessary let's look again at the analogy of the compass. The needle on a compass always points toward magnetic north. When you head off in a particular direction using a compass, your ability to maintain that direction is based on the fact that the pointing of the needle never changes. It is important to trust the compass to guide you correctly, even if the view or orientation urges you in a different direction. If you stop following the compass for even a few steps and rely on the perception of the senses, you may quickly loose your bearing, begin to stray off course, and be misguided.

The same is true in Christian Science. When facing problems, we must rely on God, divine Principle, without wavering, and let Love establish our path, until we arrive at the true nature of our being, our spiritual nature as God's reflection.

As the Bible tells us: "My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.... Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left."

How does the reliance on Spirit guide us through situations that appear to be material in nature? Let me share an example. A few years ago I had a car that required an engine replacement during the third year of a five-year lease, at a cost of several thousand dollars. I had purchased a service contract to take care of just this kind of situation. After filing the claim and not hearing from the company for some time, I finally learned that my contract had been transferred (sold) to another company in another state. I tried to contact them but found their telephone had been disconnected. At this point I began contacting consumer protection agencies and other government offices but found little help. Finally, one of the agencies contacted me to say that the company that held my contract was in bankruptcy and there was nothing that could be done; I was on my own to fix the car. I did not have the financial means to do so, yet I was required to make monthly lease payments for two more years.

From a human standpoint I was at a dead end. I had exhausted every human avenue I could think of to resolve the problem. However, I knew in my heart that there was a solution even if it could not be seen humanly. I realized at this point that instead of starting with human actions to resolve the problem, I should have turned to God and let a higher, spiritual sense guide my actions from the outset. But it is never too late to turn wholeheartedly to God for help, and this is what I did.

I quit thinking and worrying about the problem and instead began focusing my attention on better understanding God and my relationship to Him. The result was that the discouragement, anxiety, uncertainty, and helplessness I had been feeling simply evaporated. They were replaced by love, confidence, peace, and a desire to help others. The understanding of my spiritual nature lifted me out of the confusing, material sense of things that I had allowed myself to become immersed in.

I persisted with this spiritual approach, gaining new insights. After a couple of months I received a phone call from the company I had been told was in bankruptcy. They said to take the car to a dealer and they would have it repaired. And they did.

When we change thought to a spiritual basis and support it with spiritual reasoning, we recognize God's control over all, and we realize that difficulties and confusion must yield to harmony and clarity. Mrs. Eddy clarifies this point in Science and Health. She says, "Christian Science acts as an alternative, neutralizing error with Truth." And she adds, "The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind."

Isn't this the gospel which Christ Jesus preached, the good news that the kingdom of heaven is here and now? He proved beyond any doubt that when we seek the kingdom of heaven, when we change thought and action from a material to a spiritual basis, we are building on solid rock and we will experience healing results. Jesus taught that we must lay aside the material sense of things and focus our attention only on the spiritual, the kingdom of heaven. "Ye cannot serve God and mammon," he said.

Christian Science shows us how to follow the teachings of Christ Jesus. As we put these teachings into practice for ourselves, keeping our lives aligned with God by having no other reality than God and His reflection, we will be able to go forward as Christ Jesus did, unhampered by the mists of materialism.