Almost everyone, either as an individual or as a member of a family group, gives some thought during each year to vacation or recreation plans. With some, these plans are undertaken with confidence and carried through with success. With others, however, uncertainty about conditions at one's place of business, about the weather, about the availability of necessary money, about the health of those involved, as well as the unforeseen events which often occur, make the vacation project a time of anxiety and exhaustion. The prevalence of this state of affairs has led to the many jokes about going back to work and routine in order to get a rest!

On page 220 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy uses a forceful and refreshing phrase that should help to alleviate the burdens of the would-be vacationer. It occurs in the middle of a paragraph in which she has given several illustrations to show that it is natural to enjoy the various phenomena of nature rather than to be harmed by them. She states, "The snowbird sings and soars amid the blasts; he has no catarrh from wet feet, and procures a summer residence with more ease than a nabob."

A nabob or Mogul governor doubtless would not only have all the money necessary to secure the most suitable type of vacation spot, but also a retinue of servants to take care of all the detail and drudgery involved. What an ideal picture to the tired mother or overworked breadwinner! Yet abundant care is available to all, since God does not withhold from His beloved son what He bestows on the fowls of the air, and Mrs. Eddy points out that the snowbird lives with even greater ease than the Oriental ruler.

It is a false sense of guilt and unworthiness that makes us feel that our bare necessities will be supplied through our understanding of Christian Science, but that the enjoyment of great beauty in nature or outstanding opportunity for travel is only for the favored few. God shows no partiality to His children.

All of us can feel that sense of a more abundant life which the Psalmist expressed so many times in such words as "joy," "glory," "beauty," "holiness," "heritage," and "dominion." A study of these words, with the aid of Concordances, in the Bible and in Mrs. Eddy's writings yields much joy and gives us a greater sense than we had before that the glory of being is the reality of being and that the supposititious opposite of reality is the myth, the fable, the illusion, possessing neither power nor presence.

It is well to remind ourselves often that God, Spirit, is indeed All, that He fills all space, and that we are His children, His reflection. We dwell in the infinite harmony of a spiritual universe where there is no limitaion, no sense of mental or financial penury. In this infinitude of good, the abundant resources of Soul, Spirit, are available to all, and we, as God's reflection, have the spiritual capacity to avail ourselves of them.

As we ponder these truths, the friction of uncongenial personalities, the strain and uncertainty which sometimes accompany plans for vacations and other special holidays and important events in our lives, can be overcome like any other form of discord. Daily spiritualization of thought and purification of motive will be manifested in a greater degree of harmony and beauty around us.

We shall no longer be limited by human opinions as to the amount of happiness which we can expect to come to us, and we shall avoid the pitfall which Mrs. Eddy points out (ibid., p. 445), "You render the divine law of healing obscure and void, when you weigh the human in the scale with the divine, or limit in any direction of thought the omnipresence and omnipotence of God."

When our boys were young, we spent a week each year at an idyllic spot between the California foothills and the sea. However, the date for reservations had to be made months in advance, and because of this the vacation often had to be taken at an inconvenient time for my husband. Sometimes regret over leaving after such a short time made the children so unhappy as almost to spoil the memory of the holiday.

I finally realized that a more settled sense of spiritual happiness and a greater expectation of the continuous enjoyment of abundant good should come to us. Often I pondered these words from the twenty-third Psalm (verses 2 and 6): "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. ... Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." This passage always brought to my thought a scene of great beauty and peace and the desire that this beauty and peace be a more universal experience.

The following summer a friend offered us the use of her beach house for a few days. Since it was situated only half an hour from town, our children were able to invite friends to share our fun. As the date of our occupancy did not matter to our friend, we were able to take the cottage when it was most convenient for my husband's business. The time spent there was one of the best vacations we had ever had.

At the end of our stay, our friend told us to keep the key indefinitely so that we could have access to the private beach whenever we had a few hours' leisure. This privilege was extended for almost two years and afforded us much pleasure. Then a close relative bought a house on a beautiful private beach less than an hour from town, and for over four years the house has been available to all members of the family at any time of the year.

Because we are "of more value than many sparrows" (Matt. 10:31), let us expect to equal at least a small bird in our manifestation of good. Then we shall procure "with more ease than a nabob" whatever in our particular case seems the best possible opportunity for rest and refreshment, the best "summer residence" for our individual need.