When Lt. Charles H. Lightoller took his post as second officer of the Titanic, he couldn't have known that in a few days he would be standing on the deck of a sinking ship and helping people get into lifeboats. Nor could he have anticipated that he would shortly be struggling to save his own life as the massive ship plunged into the depths.

Though his experience has garnered far less attention over the years than the larger tragedy swirling around it, his message is in some ways more instructive, because it speaks of deliverance under seemingly impossible conditions.

You see, Lightoller, whose testimony from a 1912 copy of The Christian Science Journal is reprinted in this issue of the Sentinel, turned to foundational spiritual truths in his hour of need; and these truths saved him.

But his story isn't reprinted here just as a matter of history. Despite present concerns about passenger safety, particularly in aviation, it is a fact that enormous gains in transportation reliability have been made in the last eighty-five years. Improved designs, materials, and construction as well as better training, instrumentation, and safeguards all contribute to better airplanes, cars, ships, trains.

But even the best efforts are still limited by human knowledge and understanding; they are not infinite. Putting safety on an infinitely sound basis means turning to infinite good itself, the one God, who tenderly cares for and protects His offspring. The Psalmist almost seems to anticipate the sea travel and air travel of later centuries when he writes: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (Ps. 139:7-10).

The ever-presence of God, the one ever-operative divine Principle, provides a sure basis for our thinking and our experience. It makes sense to place our whole lives on this infinite basis. To do so is a prayer that consciously identifies us and others as grounded in and protected by Principle.

It is the nature of Principle to operate with the unwavering certainty of law. It is the nature of man, as the spiritual idea of Principle, to abide within that divine law. Man is subject to the operation of divine law. He is upheld by the force of law. As the idea of God, man is as immortal and indestructible as Principle itself. As the reflection of God, he is inseparable from and coexistent with God. The Science of the Christ, which is the outcome of Principle expressing itself, holds man in constant relation to God.

However, it is not quite enough that all this is true. It must be known to be true, realized in thought—only then is it enough. This is the work of prayer. Prayer makes a real difference in our safety. Understand that man dwells within the realm of Principle. This saving truth shows up on the human scene, with security in its wake. This also means that even an apparent tragedy in the past is not a lapse in the operation of Principle. Rather, it is a call for keener awareness on our part of God's tender, uninterrupted care. That can only lead to more frequent prevention of troubles in the future.

The explanation of ark found in the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy has a bearing on this discussion. It begins, "Ark. Safety; the idea, or reflection, of Truth, proved to be as immortal as its Principle ..." (p. 581). So safety is as certain as the Principle it is based on. The Science of the Christ makes this plain.

Man abides in the ark of safety. Or, to term it differently, man abides in Science. This is his unalterable condition. Danger of any kind does not swamp the ark. Neither does fear. That's important to remember. Because fear in times of crisis would seem to spawn senseless decisions likely to exacerbate a problem. Quiet assurance, a natural outcome of prayerfully knowing who and where we truly are, makes for sounder decisions. As we are consciously in the ark, we are safe. Fear of danger of any kind is less able to swallow us.

In a passage that just might qualify as the understatement of the century, Lt. Lightoller calmly explains, "I do not pretend that any man can go down on a ship at midnight, in mid-Atlantic, and succeed in eliminating fear, without hard work. It was hard work. ..." Which brings us back to the work of prayer. It returns us to the disciplined thought and the acknowledgment that we are in the ark of safety. And so is all mankind. Safer travel follows.

PSALMS

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Psalms 121:7, 8