Article July 11, 1994 Issue

Looking for answers?

Robert R. MacKusick

We all have faced times when we felt confused about what to do. Christ Jesus' powerful statement "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32) can mean a great deal to anyone praying for answers. Yet instead of knowing the truth—instead of realizing, for example, that God is in absolute control, despite appearances to the contrary—one may be tempted to look for answers by scrutinizing the problems themselves.

Of course, it is right to address our problems and consider possible solutions. Often, however, we tend to overanalyze. A long list of pros and cons or a torrent of talk and advice may lead to more confusion. How often do we try to get an answer from conversation and opinion only to find ourselves getting nowhere? It's bewildering and exhausting. We go around in circles looking for some nugget of wisdom that will solve our problem when the answer lies in turning from material conditions and reaching out to God for inspiration. We need to set aside willful planning and outlining and turn away from tightly defined options (that seem to be our only alternatives) to God, divine Mind. The one Mind—limitless, intelligent, and ever-conscious good—includes an abundance of right ideas, which, when understood and put into practice, provide entirely satisfactory solutions. God reveals all we need to know. To trust Him takes humility, but humble acknowledgment of God's infinite wisdom lifts us to perceive something of spiritual reality, of the present goodness and completeness of His creation.

The spiritual fact is that man is already right where he belongs, reflecting God. As the spiritual idea, or expression, of God, man cannot be separated from Him. No matter how challenging the problems we face may seem, in reality divine Mind is always maintaining perfection, order, freedom, and right action. We have to acknowledge this. When we do, we experience a wellspring of inspiration from the one Mind that serves to straighten out our troubles like a hot iron on wrinkled cloth.

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