We had a rip roaring wind blast through town Saturday night a while back.
When I backed out of the garage Sunday morning, I saw a vent from the roof lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn. “Well, I guess I have a project to do when I get home,” I mused. Kathy was gone for the weekend on a photo shoot with her photography club. So, after church, I get on my work clothes, carry the extension ladder to the back of the house, prop it on the eave, and climb up to replace the missing vent.
The wind was still swirling around, but not enough to discourage me from getting the job done.
I gingerly stepped my way to the steepest part of the roof, got positioned, and started nailing in the vent. The wind gusted and I heard my ladder skid to the side and fall to the ground. “Oh great!” I thought. “I’m stuck on the roof until Kathy gets home tonight!”
I didn’t panic though. I didn’t even turn around to look. I quietly prayed to know God would get me off that roof somehow.
I finished the job, walked back to the roofline, and yep, there was my ladder lying on the concrete. And there I was standing on the roof, without a clue how to get down safely.
I did another prayer, finding assurance that God would send me an angel to get me down. But I wasn’t sure what that “angel” was going to look like.
I scanned the neighboring houses hoping to see someone outside that I could shout to. There was no one. I walked the edge of the house looking for a grassy place I could launch into. None! There was concrete and garden rock everywhere. And I wasn’t sure launching off the roof to the ground was a very good idea anyway. I had never done that before, and wasn’t sure this was the time to experiment, especially when no one was around to carry me into the house if I failed. LOL
So, there I was standing on the roof wondering what to do.
“God would send me an angel,” I remembered.
Angels come in many different forms, most often as thoughts. So, I listened for a more inspired thought.
I eyed my wife’s pergola. It was six feet away from the roof edge. But the wood on top was decorative, not structural. It would break if I grabbed on to it. There was a rickety skinny one pole mini-pergola in between but it was not designed for body weight either.
I sat down on the roof, looked it all over and listened for the voice of wisdom to tell me if I could find a way down.
I had to get really quiet inside and quell many fears. But eventually a plan formed in thought that if I reached out, leaped a bit and grabbed onto a 2 x 8 piece of the structure, I could swing myself off the roof and land my feet on the ground. But every move had to be perfect and without hitch, or I would regret even trying.
I am not a gymnast! Heights are not my specialty. And I’ve never had a desire to be Tarzan-the-monkey-man swinging off of poles and roof lines. But this seemed to be my only option.
I prayed some more. I got really quiet inside and was determined to act only on divine Mind impulse and not on fear or human will. I let every move get clearly defined in my thought so I knew exactly what I had to do. Then I slithered off the edge of the roof, reached out with my left hand for the one little piece of structure I could rely on, made a lunge to grab the wood, pulled my legs off the roof behind me, grabbed another piece of the structure with my right hand, my feet now swinging below, and then made another jump from my precarious perch and landed on the ground square on my feet. Hooray! I was so happy to be standing intact.
God had sent an angel to get me safely off that roof. I needed to listen and let it guide me. From God’s point of view, I was never stuck out of range. I was okay all along. And that’s the way it always is….
Nice leap of faith!
Thank you for todays blog.I liked the complete trust and leap of faith.
So inspiring! It reminds me of several times I was stuck with no help. Once when my car broke down (,before cell phones) on a narrow country road about 7 miles from any town and I had a two year old and a 5 year I with me. All I could do was pray for an angel to help me. Within 5 min. a car pulled over and it happened to be a person who lived in a home nearby and took us to make a phone call. My husband came and we were safely home in no time. With god we are never alone or without help! Thank you Evan for your practical examples of god’s presence.
What a wonderful way to start my day.
What a great example of patience and trust! I’m going to share it with my Sunday School students. Thank you, Evan!
Thank you Evan and to all of the contributors to SpiritView!
Many years ago the following truths came very clearly to me:
– Every problem has a solution.
– Every question has an answer.
Why? Because God and His idea is all-harmonious and therefore man, God’s reflection, can never suffer with a problem or fail to know the answer to any question that may arise since God, Mind, knows all.
These truths can be applied to ANY situation we find ourselves in, as Evan and Cathee have described. I too had a situation recently during which I applied these truths. When leaving on a business trip I got to the airport and opened my laptop to do some work before the flight departed. As soon as I opened the laptop the screen started to flicker. The flicker got worse and worse to the point the laptop was unusable. I didn’t know what to do because without my laptop I would be unable to do the work I was required to do on my business trip. But then the truths above came to mind and I just knew a solution could be found to this issue. I find it is easier to practice Christian Science when you have no other choice and in this case I could not think of any other “practical” solution to this problem. So every time fear or woe entered my thought in regard to my laptop I quickly dismissed it with the truth that God is all-harmonious and therefore there is a solution to every problem…including the one I was facing! When I got to my hotel the thought came to me to change the screen resolution. The screen was flickering so badly I was almost unable to see the screen well enough to make that change, but once the change was made the flickering stopped. That solution allowed me to use my laptop to accomplish the work I needed to do on my trip and when I returned home I was able to get the laptop repaired.
Great illustration of what can happen when one gets really quiet, mentally.
One can hear so much more of truth! It’s always there, as we know.
One correction to your story, though: Heights ARE your specialty!
You “climb with joy the heights of Mind…”
(From Hymn 136, The Christian Science Hymnal)
…and WE benefit!
:<))
What a wonderful way to communicate this very important relationship between man demonstrating Christian Science in practice and God’s protection through angle messages. I felt like I was right there.
The Truth keeps getting more and more awesome- more accurately, the demonstration thereof! Thank all of you for your added thoughts and proofs of God’s love, presence, and care! Definitely we’re “in heavenly abiding” as we “climb with joy the heights of Mind”! Together, as a community, we are stronger and more effective in healing this dear world.
How grateful I am to be reminded that there is ALWAYS an answer in seemingly impossible situations. . This episode took me to re-read Adam Dickey’s God’s Law of Adjustment. One sentence in that uplifting article is “If a man were drowning in mid-ocean with apparently no human help at hand, there is a law of God which, when rightly appealed to, would bring about his rescue.” How comforting to know that there truly IS a law of God that adjusts, brings deliverance, gives answers to any situation. Thank you, dear Evan.
Evan,
You are amazing! I so appreciate you sharing your inspiration and how you get it! I love reading all of your stories and demonstrations. You shine!
There must be an answer that blesses all in this situation that I am in now. A Nurse Aide left me of her own accord and filed for unemployment benefits which has been added since it was started last year. Knowing from past experiences that handicapped persons were not responsible for this, I just kept throwing out any bills from the State Unemployment. My son got wind of this and hired a company to take of this and to forgive the amount owed which as of now comes close to $10,000. I am paying $10 per hour to the 5 aides taking care of me. One of them who really gave up her whole life and taking care of me, mostly free 24/7 is in danger of losing her medical insurance. According to law I have to charge her for all hours worked even though she has given me mostly for free. I had a argument with my son about this and told him if I had to choose between the Aide or him, I would choose the aide.
The only way out of this is C/S Prayer. I will let you know how this all turns out. Any suggestions from readers would help.
Dear Tobias,
God is Love. His love is pouring forth on you and all. One way in which you receive this love is through God’s reflection, man. Therefore God would never make you choose between your son and your aide. Both your son and your aide are God’s reflection and are constantly reflecting God’s love to you. So having to choose between your son and aide is one mis-conception you can dismiss from your thought immediately. Every reflection of God (individual man/woman) is a blessing to you! Take a moment (or hours/days) to take joy in that fact and feel God’s presence with you and everyone in your experience. Dismiss anything from thought that would contradict this statement from Science and Health from pg. 494, “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” That is the Truth. It is the Truth now, it has always been the Truth, and it will always be the Truth. Cling to that Truth like Evan clung to that 2 x 8 when he swung off the roof. Cling to it with all of your might. God’s blessing is already waiting for you. Take joy in that fact and bask in God’s presence…now and always! The truth has to be accepted in thought before the results are seen humanly. So hold the truth CONSTANTLY in thought. Remember always that everyone that follows this blog loves you immensely. You will find your solution. Much Love, Brian
Thank you for sharing Brian!
Fabulous reminder that there is always an answer if we turn to God and listen. Thank you!
Nothing is impossible for God. I always think of God’s Law of Adjustment by Adam Dickey when anything is not harmonious. I don’t know why I don’t go to it faster. The results are always perfect and surprising.
I love this!!!!