Article May 8, 1971 Issue

Choices and the Standard

OLIVE HALL SHADGETT

We are constantly confronted with choices. When the decision involves a clear-cut distinction between right and wrong, our proper course is well defined—though it may not always be a popular one. But sometimes no one of the alternatives in a given situation seems entirely right. Or what seems right in one situation may seem wrong in another.

We may ask ourselves, "Is there no absolute standard by which human conduct can be determined? Is the rightness or wrongness of an action completely dependent upon circumstances?"

Students of Christian Science are familiar with Mrs. Eddy's helpful rule for human conduct: "If the premise of mortal existence is wrong, any conclusion drawn therefrom is not absolutely right. Wisdom in human action begins with what is nearest right under the circumstances, and thence achieves the absolute." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 288; Even while the Christian Scientist takes the action that is "nearest right," his ultimate aim remains—to achieve the absolute.

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