Question 2: Share a testimony other than physical healing in which reading one or more of Skip’s articles had played an important part in your own spiritual study and prayer and final demonstration.

Some time ago, I was studying a wonderfully helpful article that Skip wrote, “Metaphysics that moves the heart” (Journal, September 1984). In it he makes an astounding statement that just took hold of me, “Metaphysics is what God does, not what men say.” It reminded me of a beautiful demonstration that would not have happened without God’s help. 

It was the day of the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church. That year Skip was chairman of the Board, and he was responsible for many things. I offered to drive Skip and Pam to the Church Center and they accepted. As we were preparing to leave their home, I loaded the car with the items Skip needed for the meeting. Once we arrived, Skip said, “Where is my suit?” I then realized that I hadn’t put it in the car. He had to rehearse with the rest of the Board and it was imperative that he wear exactly what he would be wearing for the meeting, due to staging and lighting issues. If he came unprepared, it would hold up the rehearsal. There couldn’t have been a worse time to forget Skip’s clothes!

Skip had to be ready to rehearse in 30 minutes. Initially, this appeared to be a big challenge. Anyone who knows Boston traffic is aware that you always have to give yourself extra time to arrive at your destination. There are numerous traffic lights and usually you just crawl along in stop-and-go traffic. With no traffic, Skip’s house was about 15 minutes from the Church Center, but it normally took from 30 minutes to an hour to get there.  

I told Skip I would go back to his house immediately and return as soon as possible. I jumped back in the car and pulled out into a massive amount of traffic. As I started to calculate the timing, it seemed that there was no way I could make it back before his rehearsal. I concluded that I couldn’t do this humanly: This was a situation in which I really had to be on with spiritual sense. So I turned to God with all my heart. I knew what was going on at The Mother Church was a divinely right activity and nothing could interfere with what God knows and does. I stayed very focused on listening for God’s direction. I didn’t allow any doubt to enter my thought. I knew that God’s time, not man’s, governed the situation. 

I was remembering Skip’s article, “God’s endless measure” (Sentinel, August 20, 1984), in which he states, “Time doesn’t actually govern us, but our thought of it appears to. Spiritual understanding, which comes as we draw closer to God, gives freedom; it takes away old habits of thought. Instead of feeling that the good we want to accomplish is naturally limited by something we call time, we begin to see how natural it is to have the completeness of good. As all that God is becomes more apparent to thought, we understand that the good we’ve been trying to accomplish, hold on to, or fulfill belongs to Him. It is created by Him and emanates from Him. What we’ve been seeing is only a small part of goodness, and the fact is that good is already complete beyond anything we might ask or think. With this realization, we see that our main task is to be a more accurate witness to or expression of what God is doing. . . . In this way we learn to distrust the thought of limitation based on material circumstance, which is in truth all there is to time.”

When I looked up after waiting at the first traffic light, it was as if the Red Sea had parted. The traffic was gone! Then every light I approached was green! I kept thanking God for the entire trip. I arrived at Skip’s house, ran in to get his suit, got back in the car, and continued to reach out to God. The return trip was the same—there was no traffic and every light was green. It took only 10 minutes to get to Skip’s house (5 minutes less than when there is no traffic) and 10 minutes to return to the Church Center. Skip’s executive assistant was waiting for me to give her Skip’s suit. She took it to Skip, and he was able to dress with time to spare.

I am so grateful to God for always being a very present help. This experience was what God did. My part was just listening for His guidance and completely trusting that He would guide me. This experience also taught me about time.