To drink, or not to drink

BY RICHARD S. RAFFLES

IT CAME AS a surprise. Actually, more of a jolt. At an out-of-town convention, one of my company's officers and I were chatting with a client. The other two held alcoholic beverages. I was enjoying my usual soft drink. At one point my associate referred to this difference by saying, "Dick's a deserving guy, but he'll never make it in this business. He doesn't drink."

Even though he said it jokingly, I was still jolted. That night in my hotel room I took stock. Would success elude me because I didn't drink?

Drinking liquor was contrary to everything I believed was truly good for me. I wanted to advance steadily in my understanding of Spirit, God, and of my own spirituality. Consuming liquor would take me in the opposite direction. It represented a false and damaging appetite. The abuse of alcohol robs people of their freedom to think and act intelligently. I had absolutely no interest in it.

Instead of being detrimental, the choice to forego alcohol was always a blessing.

I knew I couldn't be harmed for taking a stand I knew to be right for me. Further, I felt my stand was more beneficial to my employer and my clients than clouding my thought with mind numbing drink would be. I had to trust that this would be apparent to everyone concerned.

Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy states, "The objects we pursue and the spirit we manifest reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning" (p. 239). I was working from the standpoint of man's innate purity as God's child—a stance that would make me more effective in servicing our clients.

This conviction brightened my thought and reassured me I was treading the right path. The subject never came up again, except occasionally when a customer I was entertaining might say, "If you don't drink, don't start. You're better off without it." I stayed with the company for more than thirty years. I was regularly promoted, and became good friends with the colleague quoted earlier. Instead of being detrimental, the choice to forego alcohol was always a blessing.

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