Article November 7, 2005 Issue

GETTING BELOW THE SURFACE

By James Spencer

Some years ago I was serving as a Christian Science Minister for the Armed Services for a submarine base in South Florida. One day I went to sea in a sub captained by a friend of mine. When we were on the surface, the ship was bouncing around a good bit because of the waves, but after the sub went beneath the surface, all was perfectly calm. I was impressed by the difference between the turbulence above the surface and the calm below it.

I recalled an account in the Bible, where Jesus was asleep in a boat when a storm blew up on the lake. The boat was foundering and his disciples were afraid they would drown. They woke Jesus, but he wasn't afraid. He was quiet and told the wind and waves, "Peace, be still." And the storm stopped (see Mark 4:36-41).

This not only saved his disciples and their boat, but it brought safety to a group of small boats that were following them. Jesus was in the same physical place as his disciples—in a storm and in apparent danger—but he was in a completely different mental place. He knew that he and everyone lived in God, who is infinite Mind.

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