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Can't—or won't?
Does it sometimes seem too hard to do what you know you should do? Does "I can't" become a litany? Honest examination often exposes that phrase as a cover-up for the more adamant "I won't."
It's helpful to scrutinize thought when challenges seem insurmountable and we're tempted to think or say "I can't." For a better response we need to acknowledge the divine will, God's will, as the only true authority and power. This means that we deny human will its claim to power.
When Moses was called by God to take the children of Israel away from Egyptian tyranny, he at first demurred because he felt he lacked leadership qualifications. But when it became clear to him through divine inspiration that God, the great I am, would be his support in this mission, he was able to obey God's command. Moses had to relinquish much human opinion (I can't) and human will (I won't) before the work could even begin.
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June 1, 1981 issue
View Issue-
Healing yourself
BRIAN D. WRIGHT
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Sight undimmed
LOUIS ABRAHAMS
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The truth about sin
THOMAS A. McCLAIN
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The love that frees
ANDREA E. STROM
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Put down the dietary idol
PAUL AGNEW RANDALL
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Can't—or won't?
JENIFER C. WECHSLER
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Right where you are, God is All
MARIE ANTOINETTE COWING
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The Reading Room
HAZEL VALERY KNIGHT
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FROM THE DIRECTORS
The Christian Science Board Of Directors
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Moral relationships in church
NATHAN A. TALBOT
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Phenomena—miraculous and scientific
BEULAH M. ROEGGE
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See what is where in...
Jean Luce Lee
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I acknowledge, with deepest gratitude, the opening...
ESPERANCE E. YOUNG
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One evening I asked my mother if I could go outside and play
SETH OLDS ROGERS with contributions from MILLARD FOSTER ROGERS, JR., NINA OLDS ROGERS
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The knowledge that God is all-powerful, solely loving, and ever...
WENDY M. REIN with contributions from DAVID A. REIN