Article January 21, 1980 Issue

Can I control my future?

RUANNE Y. GENTRY

Man and the universe are spiritual, not material. God, divine Principle, governs the universe with precision and love. Man reflects the quality of dominion from his perfect Principle, and we can exercise control as we yield to Principle's absolute authority.

It may seem paradoxical to say we control by yielding, but the master Christian demonstrated this. Jesus said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:30; Yielding, then, means relinquishing human will to God's will and renouncing human egotism for spiritual selfhood, God's expression—our true self. This yielding alters our perspective and shows us how to cope with the anxiety often accompanying change.

When relationships are severed or we begin a new job or graduate from school, the future may appear quite indefinite—even foreboding. Often it is difficult to let go of a cherished plan, or to refrain from despair if our outlining is frustrated by some circumstance that seems beyond our control. In the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's character Cassius questions the human tendency to blame outside sources for our frustrations and failures: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, /But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

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