Aaah, it’s summertime. Are we having fun yet?

Like many, you may be ready for a getaway from the heat or from the grind. A summer vacation sure can be an inviting prospect! Journeys either near or far beckon us, like an oasis in the desert, sparkling and refreshing and new. OK, are you ready? Let’s go . . . with God!

Trips away from the ordinary day-to-day can truly revitalize us, give us a new perspective on our lives, and bring us home with a better attitude and with more peace of mind. I’ve certainly often found that to be the case. On the other hand, stepping out of the comfortably familiar can also often be jarring, cause worry, and bring on new challenges that we may be unprepared for. But I find that every trip I go on gives me precious opportunities to prove that no matter what comes up, no matter where I may be, I am always still home in the familiar, safe, comfortable, and comforting space that is my “mobile” home: God’s care, guidance, protection, and affection.

No matter where we roam, we are settled within Mind, God, an idea under His watchful care.

It definitely behooves us to get ourselves spiritually grounded before we take wing or wheel. We can actively assert and establish our true stability—the very fact that no matter where we roam, we are settled within Mind, God, an idea under His watchful care. We are shepherded along our way, never alone, and always accompanied by a familiar companion. God’s love is shown through His active, available, healing divine Science. His ideas are immediately accessible, and we will never get out of range of those, no matter how unfamiliar the territory seems to be. Angels are always at the ready.

I love Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of ark in Science and Health: “Safety; . . . the understanding of Spirit, destroying belief in matter. 

“God and man coexistent and eternal; . . . .” The definition concludes, “The ark indicates temptation overcome and followed by exaltation” (p. 581).

This spiritual definition can be utilized when we embark on any journey. The form of our “ark” can be a car or truck, a train, a plane, a ship—whatever transports us forward into blessings, into the revelation of God’s creation seen newly and with gratitude, and which also protects us along the way. We are coexistent with God, so we never leave Him, never depart from goodness, Love, wisdom, clarity, peace. These preserving qualities are ours wherever we are, just as the new vistas we behold can never truly depart from us either, even when we come home. They are within Mind, to be claimed and reclaimed.

On a recent journey, I was able to prove this healing concept of “ark”—most specifically, “temptation overcome and followed by exaltation.”

I was really looking forward to a return visit to Paris. I had fallen in love with the city and the experience I had there almost three years before, and I felt the time was right to go back. I had prayed for safety and peace of mind before the trip, and had others supporting me with their prayer as well. I felt confident and ready, and the trip, on which my mom and sister accompanied me, proved to be even better than I had imagined—the weather was divine, the place we chose to stay was just right, and I achieved the miraculous (to me); I actually “got away,” mentally and physically!

As we tearfully but gratefully left the city and the continent and headed back to the United States, with Austin, Texas (my hometown), as our final destination, I was continuing to pray. Our days and nights in Paris had so naturally led us to unexpected delights, as if God had been saying, “No, I think you should turn here, instead of there. . . . Follow Me, I know a really sweet spot! . . . Wait till you see what I’ve created over here!” I knew I needed to continue to trust this guidance by my Shepherd/Tour Guide and to know that we would get back to our home pasture safe and sound. In fact, I realized, we hadn’t really left it—hadn’t left God’s control, His sanctuary of peace and beauty. We had simply explored it.

Well, when we arrived in Minneapolis (our connection back to Austin), we sailed through Customs, only to find that three full terminals in the airport had been shut down since that morning because of a power outage. I can’t say I completely kept my cool. Nothing was moving, and lines of distressed passengers swarmed the place. Plus, many areas of the airport were sweltering without the air-conditioning running. 

“Argh!” I thought. “I just crossed the ocean, I’m jet-lagged and stiff, and I smell like a plane.” No one seemed to know anything, many workers were overwhelmed, and all the monitors at the airport still said our departing plane was “on time.” I was about to really lose it. As my mom, my sister, and I paced around and made calls home, I felt weariness and frustration well up in me. I was afraid I was going to have a meltdown.

Just then, I heard a little voice. One of those angels that fit in my “mental carry-on” gently caressed my thought with truth. It said: “You are dwelling in harmony—God’s harmony. Chaos is not allowed here, in spite of appearances to the contrary. You are right here and now in the midst of My harmonious action. Relax and be grateful.”

That was it! I calmed down right away and realized that real harmony didn’t come from some particular human outcome I hoped for; rather, it was something that could never be lost and never had been. I was still in the ark, still coexistent with God’s governing Principle. I could trust that and let God reveal His loving plan.

With that thought, things improved quickly. No, the power didn’t come back on, but a light did come on in my thought. I was led very naturally to bypass a line of hundreds of people waiting to ask questions and hoping for some answers (no one really had any at that point), and found a special telephone for my airline which gave us immediate access to an agent. She rebooked us for the next morning, gave us helpful and understanding advice about hotel arrangements, and assured us we were “good to go.” And we were!

We went to a hotel close by, went to sleep almost immediately, and woke up refreshed and ready to go. (All of us remarked that it was one of the best nights of sleep we had ever had!) It was a beautiful, clear morning, and we were exactly on time to catch the first shuttle back to the airport.

It was calm there, and everyone was kind. It was like an entirely different place. Our flight was on time and comfortable, but more important, I felt really spiritually uplifted, inspired, and ready to get back to my life in Austin with renewed vigor. Some especially vital ideas came to me while on that flight, which I shared with my traveling companions. The ark was sailing, and the exaltation had begun!

We arrived home on time and were met with flowers and welcoming smiles from our family and friends picking us up. The weary heaviness of the previous day was gone, and our homecoming was strewn with fresh petals of love.

Next time you’re on vacation, get in that ark! Take a break not only from your usual surroundings, but from a belief that we can ever be out of God’s control or that any part of our lives—whether here or faraway—can be anything less than perfectly guided.