Article January 5, 1952 Issue

THE BASIS FOR RIGHT DECISIONS

[Of Special Interest to Young People]

VELMA JONES BISSELL

In the lives of many young men and women graduation from high school is a very important step. Whether one acquires a position or continues his studies at a college, he will be called upon to make important decisions. Christian Science equips one to make decisions not as an adolescent who lacks both experience and judgment, but as one who understands that immortal man always is and always has been spiritually mature. When the truth of this statement is fully realized, the young person is divinely guided and arrives at his conclusions intelligently.

One applying for a position or entering a college will naturally be asked many questions. Some of these will be oral, while others will be in questionnaires or application blanks. Certain questions will be merely routine queries; some will require exact and detailed information; a few will provoke careful thought on the part of the one answering them, since they relate to the individual's standard of conduct. Two such questions which frequently appear are: "Do you smoke?" and, "Do you use alcoholic beverages?"

When one answers these questions, whether written or oral, one should be sure that his reply is based on a decision he has made himself, not upon one made by another person or upon one resulting from certain material conditions which have influenced him. All too often one who smokes or drinks does so because he is anxious to be "one of the crowd." He does not want to be thought narrow-minded or a poor sport. Or perhaps he has heard that one is more of a man if he smokes and drinks. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth, because God created man in His own image. Spiritual man reflects only Godlike qualities, such as purity, health, and holiness, which are inseparable from true manhood and womanhood.

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