Article June 30, 1997 Issue

Finding the right guide on the journey to truth

Rosalie E. Dunbar

Even though I had always been a religious person, right after I graduated from college I was full of questions. Life seemed confusing, and I longed for a guide that would help me know what kind of choices to make. Organized religion was helpful, but I felt a need for a personal guide to lead me. On this quest, a friend and I delved into spiritualism and other forms of the occult. When these didn't offer any answers, I moved on.

For a while I was strongly influenced by a man who appeared to be on a similar spiritual quest, and since he seemed more advanced than I was, I absorbed his teachings, hoping they would meet my needs, too. As time passed, however, I saw how much he wanted to control me and the others in the group. I also found that by following his teachings, I was not only turning away from God but also giving up a large part of my individuality. It seemed as though my usual friendly nature was being made into something coldly analytical, strong-willed, and not very in touch with other human beings.

I finally resolved to break away from this man, but it was not easy because I had yielded so much to his influence. Yet I accomplished it, and in the aftermath of this experience, I prayed earnestly for some way of discerning which spiritual guides could be trusted. The answer that came to me was to follow the Bible's teachings and to rely on God's Word—rather than a person—in order to understand who I was and where I was going. As the Psalmist puts it, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"(Ps. 119:105). This reliance on the Bible led me to the study of Christian Science, and specifically to Mary Baker Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

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