Testimony of Healing January 2, 1971 Issue

Today's student demonstrations at college often seem exciting...

Walter L. Jacobsen

Today's student demonstrations at college often seem exciting and fun. I had always been pretty tolerant of them until they struck close to my mental doorstep.

I was in the NROTC unit at my university, and we had escaped any student trouble until the late spring of last year. Even at first, during the minor disturbances, I was more amused than bothered. However, as the trouble became more open and aggressive, and as the student newspaper and general campus dialogue increased in feeling and became especially vociferous, I became more aroused. I found feelings of disgust, fear, and hatred growing within me, along with physical tension at confrontations. I let these feelings remain in my consciousness without handling them. I would openly discuss demonstrators and refer to them in a degrading manner. I was cynically accepting events into my thinking.

Things proceeded in this manner until the local regional assistant for Christian Science college organizations came for a routine "org" workshop. During the meeting he asked if any problems on campus needed healing. I was at first tempted not to say anything, but then I brought up this subject of the NROTC demonstrations. In his reply he brought out the need for love in our thoughts and of thinking in terms, not of right or wrong as far as personal prejudices were concerned, but in terms of endeavoring to discern right from wrong from the standpoint of God's allness. He said we should fill our minds with love and then patiently and lovingly wait for a right answer. After the meeting I went away inspired, resolving to work on the problem by using these ideas.

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