Article October 30, 1976 Issue

Vote—with God's Help!

RALPH BYRON COPPER

Election day jitters—nagging doubts about whom to vote for or whether or not to vote—show the fallibility of human reasoning unaided by divine wisdom. The answer to such qualms, however, isn't to forfeit your vote but to use it intelligently with God's help—with the guidance and direction of the all-wise Father. The Bible urges: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Prov. 3:5, 6;

Christian Science explains that God's help isn't confined to the cure of sicknesses and sins. His care extends to every facet of our lives. As divine Mind, God is a ready and able help in times of decision-making. We invoke God's aid when we recognize Him as the source and impulsion of every good thought we call our own. The very desire on our part to make a right choice springs from Him. The intelligence to think independently, the ability to choose discriminatingly, the integrity to act unselfishly—all evidence the operation of Mind's will, expressing itself in us and through us. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13; Paul's words identify the activity of Christ, God's manifestation, in our human lives.

The right of a voter to cast just one vote—his own—points to an underlying spiritual truth. Our uniqueness and distinctness—there's not another exactly like you—are formed and preserved in the individuality of God's being. We are our inimitable selves because He is infinite Being, without a second. Mrs. Eddy declares: "The spiritual man's consciousness and individuality are reflections of God. They are the emanations of Him who is Life, Truth, and Love." Science and Health, p. 336; Recognizing God as the source of our individuality, we'll cherish the opportunity our one vote provides to express the individual right of self-government, subject only to God's directing.

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Rational Worship
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