Article May 26, 2014 Issue

Good decisionmaking made simple

Katherine Stephen

This article was originally published in The Christian Science Monitor.

“Make good choices!” Over the past few years, that phrase has entered the common vocabulary of many parents as an almost clichéd way of admonishing their children, either young or grown, to make wise decisions. Unfortunately, that popular parental saying doesn’t provide any clue as to how good choices are to be made, so it’s not too surprising if the admonition is often met with a bewildered shrug.

Whether you’re an adolescent or an adult, it sometimes can be challenging to make good decisions that propel your life upward toward freedom and fulfillment. I know I’ve found it so. Particularly upon graduating from college, I recall feeling unprepared for what seemed the many key decisions that needed to be made in establishing life in the adult world.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, regarded decisionmaking as important. In her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she says: “Your decisions will master you, whichever direction they take” (p. 392). But throughout her writings, she makes it plain that divine guidance is available for those who are willing to turn decisions over to God by listening to Him. For instance, her much-beloved poem “ ‘Feed My Sheep’ ” begins: “Shepherd, show me how to go ...” (Poems, p. 14).