TUCKED INTO THE BACK of a recent book on reinventing energy is a section covering some of the longest of long-shot possibilities to become usable energy sources. To mention just one: a wind-powered generator tethered to the ground but airborne and in the jet stream at 35,000 feet. The winds there are a hundred time faster than close to the ground (see Miriam Horn and Fred Krupp, Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming, p. 238). For me, that hints at the numberless creative ideas coming from the divine source, a source regularly highlighted in the pages of this magazine.

Those creative, problem-solving ideas might seem commonplace. Or, they might seem the longest of long shots. Either way, it is God-derived inspiration that, in the final analysis, clears off what is not useful and forwards what is. We might say that spiritual inspiration acta as an underpinning to human innovation that is in som degree expressive of the Divine.

To me, this inspiration has been at work in the search for a better answer to issues with the electric grid in the United States. Some background: Over the decades this grid has grown piece by piece and is now a patchwork of 3,000-plus utilities. Each focuses on its own service area, but remains largely unmindful of utilities in adjoining service areas. While this grid is reliable, it isn't efficient. It isn't what you'd call "smart."

So that's where spiritual inspiration comes in, and where the spiritual thinker can support a better solution through prayer. The reliability, the efficiency, the purity, and the power of infinite Mind are established spiritual facts. Endlessly productive, spiritual ideas emanate from the Mind that is God. Think of it. All-knowing Mind knows no limit. There is no boundary to Mind's intelligence, or to the good it does. So it makes sense, especially on problem-solving quests, to draw on this divine intelligence. Then, spiritual insights uncover productive solutions.

You might ask, Could a smart grid, employing digital technology, express those facts in some degree? If so, then people with an awareness of God's nature and power could contribute spiritually. How? By realizing the wholly spiritual and productive activity of Mind occurring right where smart-grid building may go on. Such realizing tends to lift the entire endeavor. Things on the human scene can conform more closely to the spiritual ideal. The smart grid can become smarter still.

Here's where we currently are. The grid we now have delivers electricity to the meter box at your home. It does so reliably because of the utility's focus on supply. Your utility possibly already built an extra power plant to provide that supply. It's primarily for the dog days of summer, and for brief power dips that occur every few days. Trouble is, the utility has that extra power plant running constantly, even though not generating electricity constantly. If it's a coal-powered plant, it's warming the planet by spewing out CO2 emission 24/7.

But with the smart grid, much of the improved reliability and efficiency will come not from increased supply, but from managing demand. For instance, electric usage happens in your home daily that could shift to a low-demand time. Repeat that in millions of homes, and you don't need those extra power plants. Suddenly, things are not only smarter, they are cleaner too.

Additional efficiencies may require additional technologies. But consider Moses' example. While he was leading the children of Israel across a desert, they ran out of water. Moses turned to God who is pure Mind. Although the only tool he had at his disposal—a rod—was low-tech and commonplace, the message he received from on high provided the needed inspiration. Strike a rock with the rod, and water will pour out—that was the divine message. Moses obeyed. The water flowed (see Num., chap. 20). The people's needs were met many more times, when they listened to the direction of divine Mind.

Today, too, it's natural that thought attuned to limitless Mind glimpses and grasps smart, problem-solving inspiration. It's natural that productive answers, and the tools needed to implement those answers, come into focus. Mary Baker Eddy once wrote in her primary work on Christian Science, "In God's creation ideas became productive, obedient to Mind" (Science and Health, p. 544). As a smart grid comes into being, spiritually aware individuals, even though only slightly informed about the technology involved, may be a help. How? By realizing the productive nature of Mind's ideas. By glimpsing that those ideas forward God-inspired innovation. Progress then

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