Article September 2, 1939 Issue

"I refuse"

[Written Especially for Young People]

E. ANA LOWER

A Student sitting alone, prayerfully thinking of the right way out of seeming lack, heard the words, "I refuse," spoken clearly in her consciousness. Again and again were the words repeated, "I refuse, I refuse."

What does one refuse? thought the student. The answer followed as though again a voice spoke: "Refuse to be poor or limited, refuse to be sick, afraid, or discouraged, as one would refuse to lie, steal, or kill. Refuse also to gossip, to criticize, to be resentful, rebellious, or unloving. Refuse to see as real any quality unlike God's idea, the child of the heavenly Father-Mother."

The following statement by Mrs. Eddy in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 113) was read with a grateful heart: "He who refuses to be influenced by any but the divine Mind, commits his way to God, and rises superior to suggestions from an evil source." This recalled David's words in the thirty-seventh Psalm, "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." The sense of worry and confusion then and there began to yield to the truth expressed in these words. A quiet sense of God's nearness and His eternal love and care for all began to unfold to the student, and her thought turned to the Master's unfailing conquests over evil in all its phases.

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