Protected from dangerous fumes

Early in my engineering career, I traveled to a coal-fired power plant with some senior engineers. I was asked to go to the flat rooftop of the plant to take photos of some structural elements. 

This power plant’s roof was over one hundred feet across in both directions, and as I headed toward the middle of the roof to take photos, I began having trouble breathing. A wave of fear came over me when I realized that gas from the boiler was escaping through tiny cracks in the roofing material, and that the gas had displaced the oxygen I needed to breathe. I was completely alone, without a cellphone or other communication device, and was afraid I would pass out before reaching fresh air at the edge of the roof—which was forty or fifty feet away. 

I was still fairly new in my study of Christian Science, and the only thing I remember about my prayer at that moment was asking God for help. Instantly, this phrase from Hymn 144 in the Christian Science Hymnal came to me: “In atmosphere of Love divine, / We live, and move, and breathe” (adapt. © CSBD).  I was immediately calmed by the idea that the “atmosphere” I needed to be able to breathe was that of divine Love, and that I was already in it!