Have you at some time hesitated, when about to take a new step or make a decision, and asked yourself. "How can I be sure this is right?" Do your human undertakings and endeavors seem shadowed with some misgiving? Like a fledgling poised precariously on the brink of a chasm, awaiting an auspicious moment to try new-found wings, do you find yourself drawing back, doubting, mistrusting, at the final moment of action?

True assurance is born of the spiritual understanding of real selfhood. Many have proved false the limitations imposed by thinking of the humanly possible and impossible through awakening to man's being as the expression of perfect good, Life, God. Any undertaking whose purpose is to help others or to meet a legitimate need can be accomplished only through the talent and ability to be found in Mind. Mary Baker Eddy, on page 265 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," writes of some of the effects of this understanding of man as the expression of God. "This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace."

The human mind's skepticism concerning the fulfillment of a newborn inspiration or the success of some new activity often results in a feeling of futility. Jesus himself was "tempted of the devil." When he was fulfilling his glorious mission, he too came to a place where temptations tried to intrude themselves and interrupt his career. "The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." But because Jesus understood himself to be the Son and heir of God, he demonstrated dominion and confidently went forward with the work he had been appointed to do. None of the lying suggestions made any impression upon him. They could not and did not, therefore, have any deterring, discouraging, or diverting influence.

What were the results of his steadfastness of purpose and allegiance to God? The Sermon on the Mount; the healing of all manner of sickness and sin; the raising of the dead; his own triumph in the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension—yes, in his proof that he indeed was the Son of God!

Sureness is more than the optimistic hope that one is making a right decision, more than blind faith that all will turn out well in the end, more than the human weighing of ability and advantage. Sureness is the result of true self-knowledge. It is the recognition that, as the idea of Mind, man possesses unlimited capacity, which enables one to be spiritually qualified to discern and intelligently utilize this capacity. Man cannot be without talent, ability, scope, and versatility, since he bears everlasting witness to the inexhaustible resources of Mind. Every forward-looking spiritual purpose, every righteous ambition, every impulsion to employ one's God-given talents, has its origin in the source of all intelligence, divine Mind. Let us cherish, protect, and expectantly employ ourselves in the exercise of these evidences of Mind's guidance and provision for our progress. Mind will supply opportunity for us to manifest and utilize what we understand of God. Fruition is inevitable.

It was her acceptance of Mind's inspiration and direction that enabled our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, to be positive of her work and mission and to rely wholly on Mind for the unfoldment of this work. She accomplished what woman had never before even dared to contemplate. Through her unselfed love she achieved success in fields of activity requiring many different qualifications. She is today regarded by many as one of the foremost thinkers, authors, and executives of her age. She not only discovered Christian Science but also founded upon impregnable supports the Christian Science movement with its manifold activities, established The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, and founded the international daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor. So sure was she that divine Mind can always be relied upon for all decisions that she gives this spiritual advice to us (Pulpit and Press, p. 3): "Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love." She adds, "Our surety is in our confidence that we are indeed dwellers in Truth and Love, man's eternal mansion."

The Psalmist wrote (Ps. 37:23), "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way." A frequent presumptuous suggestion today is that it is futile to try to fit into the shifting picture of human events, to find or keep one's niche. We should remember that man is not a creature of material order or disorder, subject to mortal standards and scales of living, but the unchanging image and likeness of God. Then we can behold our true selves as the expression of Love. Comformable alone to infinite Love's demands, we shall find perfect adjustment and harmony in God-bestowed sufficiency.

We should always carry the question, the desire, the decision to Mind. If the first impulse is to reach out for human advice and policy, we should know that we can do no better for ourselves than to reach out and up to the all-knowing Mind, the all-providing Love, the all-governing Principle. As we listen for and are obedient to divine Mind's direction, we shall discover our real being in the kingdom of God. Out of a "wilderness" experience presenting itself as "loneliness; doubt; darkness" we shall come forth with "spontaneity of thought and idea" and find "the vestibule in which a material sense of things disappears, and spiritual sense unfolds the great facts of existence" (Science and Health, p. 597). Then we shall no longer wonder. We shall know.