WHY I DO NOT DRINK OR SMOKE

A College student once said to a Christian Scientist, "You must smoke and drink if you want to be successful on this campus." The Scientist had been queried on other occasions about the use of tobacco and alcohol, and he had three carefully considered reasons for abstaining from these enslaving habits.

First, the Scientist spoke to his friend of the wisdom of resisting the pressure to conform to a false standard. Oftentimes it is the desire for security among college students that leads them into the illusive safety zone of conformity to the current campus fashion.

The desire to conform to the crowd comes from a false sense of man's origin. If we appraise ourselves as mortals, with a material set of values and a finite or limited life prospect, then the smoking and drinking may seem to be a crutch that helps us through superficial campus relationships. On the other hand, if we have faith in and understand God, the divine Principle of being, He always sustains us.

Christian Science teaches that God, divine Mind, preserves the individuality and identity of each of His ideas. The true security which every individual needs is found as he turns mentally away from the false standards of the crowd and attunes his thoughts of existence to the spiritual.

To be released from the contagious beliefs of the crowd, one need only resort to his spiritual selfhood, God's image and likeness. Then he discovers the great truth that man dwells not in a supposititious campus conflict, involving many mortal wills, but in the universe of Love, wherein dwells no error to dominate or tempt the child of God. In fact, man, the spiritual idea of God, has only one standard, that of divine Principle. To the student who knows these truths, it is natural to be free from the limiting conventions of mortal belief.

Secondly, the Scientist asked his college friend, "Do smoking" and drinking really satisfy?"

By the time a Scientist reaches the university level, he or she is learning to be more discerning and analytical in appraising the many fanciful claims made to mass audiences through the medium of television, newspaper, and radio advertising. He thoughtfully resists the temptation to be influenced to believe that smoking or drinking is satisfying.

M an, God's reflection, is satisfied. If we are not satisfied, we are accepting a sense of incompleteness, and this means that we are not expressing our spiritual selfhood, which images forth the ideas of Spirit, Soul. Daily and hourly we should have a prayerful desire to awaken to more of the good that God bestows, the love that Love imparts, and the wisdom that Mind reveals. The Psalmist had this to say to God about satisfaction (Ps. 17:15 ): "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."

It is the claiming of our spiritual individuality in the likeness of God that quiets restlessness and satisfies the yearning for completeness. This is done in a Christianly scientific way through prayer. Turning thought away from material sense testimony, which never defines the true man, one discovers the spiritual facts that sustain true being.

In order to express more of this satisfying, spiritual sense of being, the student learns that he must be quiet and listen to God. Then he must arise and conform to the intuitions of Spirit as they appear in consciousness. In this way some measure of divinity is made manifest in his human experience. Friends and classmates see and appreciate this state of spiritual thought when it is translated into action that is pure and righteous. Christ Jesus told his followers (Matt. 5:16 ), "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The third reason for not smoking or drinking that the Scientist gave to his college friend was as follows: The cigarette and the cocktail do not promote successful fellowship between intelligent men and women. What are the marks of a good companion? To be able to exchange and share ideas that are intelligent, fresh, interesting, and helpful is one mark. The true thinker, drawing upon divine Mind, the infinite source of right ideas, can reflect an endless capacity to comprehend, retain, and express ideas that are good. No mortal atmosphere or stimulant can aid or suppress the activity of Mind and its ideas.

Attractiveness is another mark of a good companion. Left to the theories of material sense, unenlightened by Christian Science, a student may seem temporarily separated from the permanent and attractive qualities of Spirit.

What mental steps are needed to dispel the gloomy suggestion of unattractiveness? Consider how attractive a quality is joy, and how easily obtainable it is through spiritual sense, which insists upon the omnipotence of Love. Knowing something of divine Love's plan brings forth a wellspring of joy from within. Through spiritual sense the student goes beyond the material sense of joy and beauty and discerns something of divine loveliness.

As Love's ideas appear in consciousness, he learns to translate them into action. Then his daily walk and conversation manifest a higher degree of beauty and joy. This, then, is the way toward true and permanent attractiveness. "It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with stairs gems, and covers the earth with loveliness," writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 247 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." How precious is the Science that reveals the secrets of harmonious being, which all can claim!

Through Science the youthful metaphysician goes on to claim other qualities that contribute to successful companionship, such as justice, humility, fearlessness, and strength. He does not concentrate on impressing people; rather does he focus his attention upon the need for expressing Spirit to the highest degree possible. He is engaged in the work of praising God, and this gives him a real incentive for being a truly successful companion.

To conclude: A more spiritual sense of existence breaks the chains of conformity to a false standard, satisfies restlessness, and supplies us with truly successful companionships. All this is accomplished through Christian Science and without the use of tobacco or alcohol.