Article May 17, 1993 Issue

Overcoming fear of accidents—flying with joy

A sense of safety comes from realizing the omnipresence of divine Mind.

Jan Trew Mullen

Some people love adventure and dream of deep-sea diving or of being an astronaut. Somehow I never objected to being deprived of these challenges.

When my husband obtained his private pilot's license, I struggled to accept my good fortune and the sudden opportunity to be more adventurous—I was one who usually prayed nonstop in a commercial airliner to keep it up in the air! No one knew about this problem, but I realized that this sense of terror had to be overcome if I were to demonstrate the freedom from fear that Christian Science brings. Earlier in my study of Christian Science, I had learned that fear should never be an overriding factor in any decisionmaking process. The "still small voice" of wisdom doesn't govern man through fear.

I asked myself if a reluctance to fly meant that I believed in voids where divine Mind, God, was absent. I found some helpful ideas in "the scientific statement of being" from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. It begins: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." This statement is powerful and revolutionary. It tells us that man is not born into matter, that his real identity is completely spiritual; that his substance is not blood and bones but something permanent.

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