THE BIBLE IN MY LIFE April 16, 2007 Issue

CAIRNS OF COMFORT

JONATHA WEY

HIGH UP IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS of New Hampshire are cairns, man-made cone-shaped rock piles ranging from two to eight feet tall. These cairns mark the path along the ridgeline. Even on the summit of 6,288-foot-high Mt. Washington, with recorded wind speeds of up to 231 mph, cairns can withstand the often brutal mountain weather better than a traditional post and sign. When visibility is bad, these cairns are invaluable guides to safety.

One of the "cairns" that has kept me on the right path for many years is the Bible. My grandmother was a Christian Scientist, and I became acquainted with the Bible while visiting her house, with occasional visits to the Christian Science Sunday School. It was not until college, however, that I spent more time not only with this cairn, but with another waymark, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. I found myself turning more often to Science and Health, simply because I found it easier to understand—though I appreciated how much the Bible had meant to the book's author, Mary Baker Eddy.

These two books helped me in my passage from a limited, material sense of existence to the spiritual, as I began to understand the way God had created me, in His likeness, as the first chapter of Genesis made clear. From that point on, the counsel, comfort, and healing messages contained in the Bible assured me that I was headed in the right direction. Never again did I doubt the strength of my relationship with my Father-Mother God.