Mount st. Helens, an active volcano in the northwestern United States, erupted in 1980. In the cleanup some of the debris was dredged from the rivers downstream and piled into huge mounds along the freeway. As I drove past the piles of ash several months after the explosion, my compact car was completely dwarfed by these man-made mountains.

I remembered a statement by Christ Jesus that had been my grandfather's favorite: If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall say unto this mountain, and nothing shall be impossible unto you." It seemed impossible to me that one of the ash piles could be moved, let alone an entire mountain. The thought of the immensity of God's omnipotence made me feel even more insignificant, until I realized that in my true being as the image of God I reflect Him—and His power. The supposed power coming from a mountain of matter is nothing compared to God's infinite might. And, whereas the apparent power of a volcano is destructive, God's power is only good.

I learned more about the power of God when I was suddenly faced with an unexpected divorce. At first I felt as if one of those piles of ash had been dumped on me! It was an effort just to get through the day. Never mind moving a mountain!

As a Christian Scientist, I had come to see that every problem has a healing solution, and I knew that God would lead me to that solution. I tried to draw close to God, but instead the broken relationship seemed to dominate my thinking. At this same time I was responsible for the completion of a large project connected with my work. How could I concentrate on business obligations when it looked as if I were losing not only a husband but also my security and my identity?

The Christian Science Hymnal has always been a source of comfort and strength during times of discouragement, so one night I began to sing hymns. I soon felt calmer. I came to a hymn written by Mary Baker Eddy. Mrs. Eddy, who discovered Christian Science and founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, had certainly seen her share of disappointments, including divorce. I sang the hymn "Christ My Refuge," which begins,

Her words held such a fullness and tenderness, I realized they could only have been written from the depths of her understanding and experience. She wrote all of her works to bring healing to others, to comfort and help them. Through the love her hymn expressed, I felt God's closeness.

I turned to the text of the hymn and read these words:

I imagined myself standing on a rock—a very small rock, just big enough for my feet to rest on—on a stormy night. The rock was on the ocean beach, embedded in the sand. As I stood shakily on the rock, the waves would sometimes come close enough to wash over my feet. But I knew from the hymn's promise that I was there to stay—engrounded.

The hymn promised, too, that I could expect "a white-winged angel throng of thoughts" to come to me. There wouldn't just be a good thought here and there, now and then, but a throng of them. All I had to do was listen to God's messages. These angel thoughts would supply me with all I needed. I had never really been separated from God or from the divine power that could move mountains if necessary.

Through ongoing prayer I was able to sell my house and purchase a new one, handle business transactions that were all new to me, and complete my project at work right on schedule. I also gained a better understanding of my identity as a child of God.

One idea that was especially helpful came as I was reading the Bible. The first chapter of Genesis tells of God creating man in His own image. The second includes the story of Adam and Eve, which gives a material history of creation. These two chapters, I saw, are in direct conflict. Christian Science explains the truth of the first chapter, in which man is created in God's image, wholly good, and points out the Bible provides an object-lesson showing the complete falsity of material origin for man in the second account.

I gained a very helpful insight by reading this second chapter, which talks about the supposititious mortal man, Adam. Genesis 2:18 states, "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." I realized that the concept of woman being merely a helper to man came from the material, false view of creation as portrayed in the story of Adam and Eve, not from the true, spiritual view of creation. I realized too that I had been thinking of myself as a helpmeet for man, feeling that if I lost my man, I had no purpose. No wonder I was depressed! I was believing that I was like Eve. Now I acknowledged that I was not a helpmeet for man. I was man! God's man—spiritual and complete.

God's man expresses all the qualities of his creator, both masculine and feminine. And while helping one another is a vital and beautiful part of human experience, spiritual man doesn't need a helper or a counterpart to make him complete. He is complete as the manifestation of Mind. Being married or single has no effect on this spiritual completeness. For instance, man's joy doesn't actually come from another person or from human circumstances, though it may seem that way sometimes. Joy is a quality inherent in each one's true selfhood. Each individual has only to express joy and to recognize that no one can be deprived of it or be responsible for another's joy. It comes from God; it is a quality of Soul.

This inspiration from the Bible helped me to value myself more as God's complete offspring. It also freed me from feeling false responsibility for another person's salvation. I can't claim that these lessons were learned in a day or without a struggle, but I can state that ideas from God came to me every day and led me steadily toward peace and resolution of my needs.

One year later I was walking with a friend on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound. As we watched the sun setting and the many families enjoying the beach below, I realized that this lofty bluff was much more akin to the rock mentioned in Mrs. Eddy's hymn than the small rock I had imagined earlier. This rock was high above wind and wave, with the expansive horizon spread before it. No longer did I feel alone or rejected, although I was unmarried. The spiritual understanding I had gained of my indestructible relationship to God was my true rock. By standing on that rock in prayer, I had begun to see God's goodness unfold before me day after day. My sense of family broadened, my circle of friends widened, and my activity became more varied and useful.

Unlike the power of the volcano, which is often unpredictable, God's love is constantly there to bless. Ultimately it doesn't matter what the human configuration of our family is. The understanding of man as complete and spiritual helps us see that we are held forever in the infinite embrace and magnificent power of divine Love.