Editorial August 14, 1995 Issue

When action needs to be taken, what action?

Russ Gerber

We are all familiar with situations that cry out for decisive action to be taken. A conflict that drags on and on. A project that is stalled. A dead-end job. It's one thing to be in a position of authority, a position in which you can take immediate and effective action. It's quite another to look at a wide range of unsolved problems, large and small, and feel that you're in a position where there is little you can do to make a difference.

That is how I felt, initially, very early one morning as I woke restless over everything from fighting in Bosnia to the resolution of some personal matters. Even if I knew what action to take on all of these fronts, how much action could I take at 3 a.m.?

I was very grateful that God was acting, however, as He always is. And I was seeing evidence of the action of divine Mind when my restlessness was stilled and I calmly recalled a statement from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. She writes, "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds" (p. 4). This idea seemed unrelated at first, and I questioned, "How could this be what is most needed? What about Bosnia? What about all these other things? Isn't action needed?"