To those whose existence is blighted by a belief that misfortunes are unavoidable, or that they come from some source beyond their control, Christian Science offers blessed hope and assurance in its teaching of the safety and harmony that obtain as God, divine Principle, is recognized as the supreme and controlling influence over all.

A much-loved and oft-quoted passage in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, reads thus (p. 424): "Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony." Our Leader's statement that "accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind," is based on the scientific teaching that God, who is the creator of all, is absolute, infinite good and that His law must also be absolutely and infinitely good.

This is the only law that is in operation for His creation, and in it there are no loopholes and no weaknesses, no procrastination, no misinterpretation, no injustice. It is through law that God orders the perfect and complete creation recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. It is through law that He evolves the universe and man in a majesty that is never ending. This law cannot allow for or know any untoward occasion, any disaster, any emergency.

The elements of doubt, indecision, chance, and mistake appeared only after the mist of mortal mind thinking seemed to arise and obscure the perfection of God and His creation. And ever through the ages as this mist has been pierced, the true, all-embracing government of Principle has been glimpsed and proved. As men have recognized themselves not as creatures of the mist, but as the image and likeness of God, they have demonstrated man's God-given dominion, freedom, and harmony. The real, spiritual, and only man is the evidence, the expression, of the one infinite, all-inclusive cause, God.

The real man is God's exact likeness, and the identification of ourselves as that likeness enables us always to be where we ought to be, to do what we ought to do, and to know what we ought to know without possibility of the intrusion of accident or chance. Recognizing our true identity as God's reflection, we "leave the mortal basis of belief" and are able to demonstrate God's law by turning thought from pessimistic, superstitious, erroneous, or fatalistic beliefs to the allness and supremacy of God, good.

One day a student of Christian Science felt the need of realizing more of the meaning of Mrs. Eddy's words quoted toward the beginning of this article. A window in her home had been broken by a worker, and the suggestion was that this would be but the first of a series of mishaps because of the worker's excited and careless attitude. The student knew she needed to turn her thought to the oneness, calmness, and perfection of the governing divine Principle of all. She tried to "leave the mortal basis of belief" in the necessity of accidents and the fallibility of man and to "unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony." Here was comfort as well as inspiration, and she felt herself lifted above confusion.

Then it occurred to her that the same truth would help her in the task she had before her for the day, an exacting task, where a single mistake or miscalculation would cause great waste of time and money. Consciously striving to reflect Love, listening for the guidance of Principle, claiming the presence of Mind's perfect plan for man, she was able to proceed without irritation or apprehension over the worker's carelessness and with a joyful, confident alertness in her own project. Not only was her task accomplished with a gratifying degree of perfection, but there were no more untoward occurrences, and the damage done was very quickly repaired with a minimum of inconvenience.

Then still another of the day's problems was solved. Periodically through the day there had come to the student's thought a certain matter on which a decision was necessary by evening. The only solution she could think of was very unsatisfactory from many angles. But she did not accept that solution as inescapable. Instead, she tried to keep her thought open to God's direction. She saw clearly that right decision and action could emanate only from a "proper sense of God's unerring direction" and not from accident or chance. When the time came for the decision to be made, she was grateful to find before her a means that her experience and knowledge would never have indicated as a possibility. With a humble acknowledgment that this was Mind's guidance she used this means and found that the solution it offered was much more satisfactory than any she could have planned.

The next day, as she pondered these three proofs of what an acknowledgment of God can do in a day's work to eliminate calamity, to perfect workmanship, and to guide to a right solution, her attention was readily caught by some safety slogans on an industrial plant she was passing, and she gratefully realized that the teachings of Christian Science reveal the spiritual truth, which bases every well-intentioned rule. Intelligent human footsteps outlined in safety education are a far cry from the ignorance of belief in luck and "breaks." But the final step of progress will be the universal recognition of Mind as the infinite, intelligent, harmonious, just, and merciful controller of its own unerring expression.

The human sense of taking care, of using what is termed presence of mind, will surrender to a receptivity to God's care and to the ever-presence of divine Mind. Never unattainable, never doubtful, never illusive, never absent, Mind operates unceasingly in individual consciousness, freeing thought and conferring unlimited ability, alertness, discretion, and discernment.

Proper illumination of the task at hand, of the way to be traversed, and of the so-called dangerous points has done much humanly to lesson accidents. But human lighting in its most advanced forms can do nothing to help the darkened thought, the mental outlook that is clouded with false beliefs, with fear and dark forebodings. The Psalmist sang (Ps. 119:105), "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path;" and Christ Jesus promised (John 8:12), "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

The accepted maxim that emotional stress must be eliminated to avoid accidents will be more helpful when such emotional strain is seen to be the manifestation of suppositional mortal mind, a product of physical sensation, and therefore impotent to deprive man of his God-given alertness, discretion, and judgment. As mortal mind's sway is destroyed with the understanding that man is governed by Soul and its spiritual senses, by the divine Mind, not by its disturbing and disturbed counterfeit, called mortal mind, we see that we are no longer the hapless victims of fear, anger, ecstasy, or depression, but the calm and poised reflection of Principle. Thus we are enabled to follow our Leader's counsel in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 224), "We should remember that the world is wide." If we do, we shall be able to bring out the ideal she describes in the same paragraph in these words: "Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it."

Understanding the nature of God as infinite goodness and man's inseparable relationship to Him and to His intelligence, wisdom, and harmony, the student of Christian Science knows how to safeguard his every activity. He is not unprepared for or unfamiliar with the operation of the all-governing divine law, and therefore he is never at a loss to know the proper human footsteps to take in any ordinary or extraordinary circumstance. He demonstrates man's unity with the one Mind and rejoices to see the resultant harmony.