Editorial July 10, 1978 Issue

Guidance through Christ, not chronology

Naomi Price

Right acts need to be performed at the right time or they may turn out to be worthless or even harmful. "A word spoken in due season, how good is it!"^{Prov. 15:23;} says the writer of the book of Proverbs. Yet many of us can recall occasions when a good and helpful word spoken out of season has caused trouble, or when a good deed has turned out to be unwelcome because it was performed at an inappropriate moment. Clearly, wise guidance is needed if we are to act altogether wisely.

Timing has become a popular subject in the world today. Millions consult astrological diagrams, while others study biorhythm charts to determine whether certain days are likely to be propitious for their performance of certain acts.

Astrology has long sought to persuade us that the position of the stars is able to affect our human destiny, and to determine the success or failure of our actions. The more recently devised system of biorhythms rests on the belief that human beings are mechanical, subject to regular physical, emotional, and intellectual fluctuations. It claims to be able to help people to know when their minds and bodies will be at the peak of their strength and ability, and will therefore be most likely to be successful in any undertaking. Inspiration and divine guidance are excluded from the calculations in both cases. Charts are made on a purely mechanical basis on the superstitious assumption that man is mortal, born into matter on a certain date in time, and that he is wholly governed by physical forces beyond his control. These systems would reduce man to the status of a robot, functioning automatically and unthinkingly according to timetables produced, as it were, by a computer.

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