SENTINEL WATCH December 4, 2006 Issue

'ONE-FACT REASONING'

BARBARA VINING

A PERSON who frequently calls me to pray for her said recently, "You always have just the right answer." I was glad she felt the intended comfort of my words, but I immediately assured her, "No, I don't. But God certainly does."

When I humbly turn to God, I'm often surprised by the fresh, powerful, healing ideas that come. This helpful phenomenon is the effect of what I've come to think of as "one-fact reasoning."

Considering the myriad array of troubles today—in personal lives and in the world at large—it's not surprising that human reasoning can get so easily bogged down in the very problems it is trying to solve. Yet, reason we do. As the founder of this magazine, Mary Baker Eddy, pointed out in Science and Health, "Reason is the most active human faculty" (p. 327). How, then, can we reason in a way that will make a positive difference? How can we sort out fact from fiction, biased opinion from sound wisdom, personal reaction from caring response, and so on? Where do we start?

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