"Will you let me make my own decision! I've got to do what I think is right." In the midst of a campus crisis I was reluctantly finding myself in the role of a harassed college newspaper editor. So I left the conversation at the dinner table and walked rather dejectedly back to my room.

Once seated in my snug rocking chair, I began recalling the day's turmoil over the college president's controversial choice of a commencement speaker. He had invited a successful woman executive of a cosmetics company—a world which seemed out of key with both the intellectual pursuits and the feminist consciousness of this women's college.

Moreover, he had extended the invitation without first consulting the student commencement committee. The Women's Action Group applied pressure tactics. Distorted rumors spread by word of mouth and mimeographed fliers. There was much protest, argument, and confusion. By the end of the day everyone's spirits were down, including mine.

It was impossible to please the administration by hushing up the whole incident until after Fathers' Weekend, three days away. The news was due at the press tomorrow.

If I intended to print the full story of the controversy, I would have to write an editorial. I feared this meant taking a side, thus sacrificing either popularity or self-respect. "Well, I'm going to take my own stand," I thought. "It's not right to side with or against other people's opinions."

But when I started analyzing the problem from a human point of view, I became more muddled than ever. I finally admitted I couldn't possibly help restore harmony to the campus by relying on human logic. I must strip off the delusion I'd been accepting: that there are many minds, divided and discordant.

Turning away from the mortal sense of imperfection to the immortal assurance of perfection, as I had been taught to do in Christian Science, I humbly prayed to be receptive to God, the one immutable Mind. I acknowledged that I was guided and governed by this perfect Principle alone, with its unerring, eternal laws of Love.

I suddenly remembered I had neglected to study the Christian Science Quarterly Lesson-Sermon that morning, in fact, hadn't even thought of it since I'd been so caught up in the day's confusion. Opening the Bible to the first citation, I was astonished by its aptness: "Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." ^{Ps. 143:10;}

I saw that I could not be influenced or manipulated by ungodly motives of self-will, pride, or self-righteousness if I aligned my desire with God's will. The one divine will doesn't depreciate the value of individuality. On the contrary, it expands limited conceptions of one's own and another's worth. It leads us into spiritual willingness rather than humanly willful ways.

I found this quotation in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy: "If God makes sin, if good produces evil, if truth results in error, then Science and Christianity are helpless; but there are no antagonistic powers nor laws, spiritual or material, creating and governing man through perpetual warfare. God is not the author of mortal discords." ^{Science and Health, p. 231;} In studying Mrs. Eddy's message I realized how powerless were the assertions of personal wills, grudges, biases, and discords. They are completely obliterated when Truth and Love are recognized to be governing everyone. Harmony is real, and discord is not real.

To this editor, how instantly trivial seemed prestige and popularity! Then and there I declared my mission was to practice Truth by honestly appraising the campus unrest. I would give the issue immediate attention, instead of holding off on the facts and letting rumors run rampant.

Late that night I asked two experienced reporters to interview the next morning the people on whom the controversy focused. They responded eagerly to this enticing assignment. As for my editorial, I knew that it was an opportunity to point out the constructive good that's often masked by destructive turmoil.

Christ Jesus regarded his betrayers and persecutors with pure love as he cried out from the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." ^{Luke 23:34.} Feeling indebted to the Master's courage and compassion, I resolved to cultivate more of these Christly qualities in my thought. After all, my embodiment of goodness might well uplift those around me who felt betrayed, pressured, or persecuted.

I affirmed that each spiritual idea of Love is loving, incapable of embarrassing or demeaning another spiritual idea. Knowing this, we express more consideration, patience, forgiveness, and humility.

It was clear to me that each spiritual idea of Mind reflects the intelligence that comprehends and heeds the absolute laws of divine Principle. Affirming this, we can pattern our human lives after Principle's unchanging harmony. We work for continual improvement in securing human justice, until all mortal imperfections are removed. Each spiritual idea of Truth manifests integrity. When we hold to this truth, we are not influenced by threats, accusations, willful pressure, exaggerations, or distortions. When we practice integrity, we reinstate trust where suspicion allegedly reigned.

I silently vowed to live by these truths. To strengthen my pledge, I worked with the sixth tenet, found on page 497 of Science and Health: "And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure."

The college newspaper was printed only one day late. It appeared in every dorm on the Friday of Fathers' Weekend, reassuring, rather than angering, people. The layout editor had left two front-page columns blank for the "commencement controversy" coverage, and, to her surprise, the articles fitted exactly into the allotted space. Each writer had approached the touchy subject with a professional objectivity, acumen, and thoroughness that surpassed reporting of prior issues.

The columns reserved for the editorial were shorter than the galley, but I recognized that Mind has a proper place for everything. The next minute I noticed a paragraph in my editorial that would be better left unsaid. The printer promptly razored it out, leaving just enough room for the concluding sentence.

Campus response was encouraging. Individual students, faculty members, and administrators appreciated the editorial for its "sensible, sensitive" approach and its positive attitude. They commented on the quality of the paper as a whole, calling it a tribute to the staff's skill and dedication.

I was grateful to see how the recognition of the operation of Truth and Love could renew trust and kindliness in a crisis situation. The effects of this renewal? A co-commencement speaker was chosen to appear along with the previously invited speaker. Intelligent decisions, updated campus legislation, and a spirit of unity are the prevailing signs of progress in this college community.