Have you ever faced a seemingly impossible task? Once, during military service as a young musician in the Life Guards—the senior regiment of the British Army—I found myself being disciplined because of the foolish actions of some other soldiers nearby. We were all spectators of a cross-country run, but a few guys started playing around on the nearby “Queen Mary”—an obstacle part of the large assault course at the Guard’s Depot that involved rope-swinging over a huge concrete basin full of sludge. Their actions were observed by a noncommissioned officer, who, on reporting to the commandant, was given permission to “round up” all within the vicinity—including me as an innocent bystander—and take us on a five-mile run, followed by the full assault course.

Now, I was no athlete—had always been described in the gym at school as having “two left feet”—and such training was not part of the curriculum for junior musicians in the army. However, as a new student of Christian Science, I had begun to read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, and I was learning that through Christ, Truth, I could overcome any difficult situation that came my way. So, rather than nursing any resentment, I chose instead to rely on my God-given abilities, so that I could perform this feat if it was my duty to do it. Christ Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

I had expressed dominion in learning to march up to the Brigade of Guards standard—not a straightforward task by any means—so I knew God would take me all the way in this situation too. I also knew that the one God is infinite Mind, which means that we all “live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) in this one divine Mind, and that an understanding of this oneness of God and man could bring dominion in all things.

While reading Science and Health during this time, I was particularly struck by these two statements: “The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible” and, “Had Blondin believed it impossible to walk the rope over Niagara’s abyss of waters, he could never have done it” (p. 199). And the Bible Lesson for that week in the Christian Science Quarterly included this verse from Psalms: “By thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall” (18:29). Leaning on God’s grace, I felt a mental lift above the human situation and a greater sense of my God-given dominion, which gave me confidence in approaching the considerable challenge ahead.

I completed the run, relying on God the whole way. Then, as we began the assault course, I found that it did indeed include high walls and other obstacles needing to be scaled! These, too, I completed successfully with newfound poise and vigor. Afterward, I was commended and told that I should be a regular soldier, not just a musician! And later I was to exercise that same spiritual poise in learning to ride in the cavalry.

Understanding God’s supremacy gives us the ability to triumph over any difficult human circumstance.

So what had I learned from this experience? Well, I realized that, as demonstrated by Joseph in the Bible (see Genesis 37, 39–45), understanding God’s supremacy gives us the ability to triumph over any difficult human circumstance, regardless of who else is involved. As I acknowledged God’s governance in all things and resisted the temptation to be resentful, any thought or fear suggesting that I wasn’t up to the demand became subservient to the recognition of the Divine Being’s harmonious government of His universe, with man as His child.

In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy describes spiritual sense as “a conscious, constant capacity to understand God” (p. 209). This divine sense comes to us when our human sense of being, with all its “logic,” is silenced and prepared to yield to divine perception. It must have been this spiritual sense of dominion that enabled Joseph to meet and overcome being sold into slavery in Egypt, and then, after rising to a position of great responsibility and honor in his master’s house, being put in prison when his master’s wife made false allegations against him. All of this he overcame without resentment, and his spiritual vision ultimately led to his being freed from prison and placed in a position to save Egypt and surrounding lands from seven years of drought. Even when his brothers came to him to buy grain, he harbored no ill will, but treated them with love and respect.

Jesus’ promise “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20) can be made practical in our own experience as we gain a spiritual sense of God’s kingdom and His ever-present Christ. Christ voices to human consciousness the truth of what God is and of man’s relation to God. God’s man coexists with and is inseparable from Him, rather than revolving in an orbit of his own. This truth Jesus exemplified and illustrated in his career of healing, and it can be applied in every area of human life, bringing harmony and healing.

After I was released from the Army, my commitment to Christian Science remained of utmost importance to me. In my musical career that followed, spanning some 25 years, I was able to prove God’s governance in many ways. Little did I realize that afternoon on the assault course how that spiritual lesson would prepare me to meet and overcome later challenges!

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul wrote of his determination to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (3:14). Naturally, our efforts to emulate the works of Jesus require sincere “devotion of thought” and a commitment to spiritual growth. But anyone can, through honest striving, and yielding to God’s grace, learn how to demonstrate their God-given dominion in every aspect of human experience. As Hymn 59 in the Christian Science Hymnal puts it: