While I was a supervisor at a summer camp, it was my responsibility to see that the staff members upheld their duties to the program. I had assured my employer that I would keep him informed about anything that might affect the camp's welfare. Then a friend asked that I promise not to divulge something he felt he needed to tell me. I agreed. My friend's report, however, concerned two summer workers who were not fulfilling their obligations and were using illegal drugs.
What was to be done? It appeared that two conflicting promises had been made: one to my employer, another to my friend. Could I fulfill my duty as both a conscientious supervisor and a true friend? Wouldn't it be necessary to betray the confidence of one?
Sometimes, despite our very best efforts, we find ourselves faced with what is popularly termed a moral dilemma, the need to choose between equally unsatisfactory alternatives. And in the process of choosing, one must, it appears, compromise certain moral values.
Christian Science reveals that no situation on earth can overrule the unchanging law of God, divine Principle. But to bring our human experience into accord with God's law, we must first realize the power of Christ to awaken our consciousness to the universal, divine harmony that is always at hand. It is the belief that we are mortals, separated from God, the all-knowing Mind, that would prevent us from demonstrating the uninterrupted harmony of our true existence in Him. In reality there can be no moral dilemmas, because there is only one Mind, and in this Mind there exists no value system apart from or in conflict with divine Principle and Love. In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes, "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal." Science and Health, p. 151.
So what are we to do when faced with the need for a decision in what seems to be a no-win situation? First, we can know that no predicaments exist in Truth. Mortal mind alone is puzzled— puzzled by its own finiteness. God is infinite. Therefore, man as the idea of God cannot be trapped. Humans often seem to find themselves in circumstances that contain only a few narrow alternatives. But in God's allness only His will is present. A problem of any sort in which the only apparent answers seem to conflict in some way with Principle, is simply a decoy of mortal mind to distract us from perceiving the fact of one all-harmonious, controlling Mind. Science and Health states: "Omnipotent and infinite Mind made all and includes all. This Mind does not make mistakes and subsequently correct them." Ibid., p. 206.
Having to choose between what we perceive as two opposing right courses is evidence of our need to know more deeply the unity of divine Principle and Love. The divine message is communicated from God to the human consciousness through His Christ. Yielding to the Christ, we can know that inasmuch as Principle corrects and governs a situation, so Love preserves the government of God's law of peace and harmony. The Christ will make known to the receptive heart the proper course of action in proportion as the individual turns away from the human to the divine.
In our prayers for a solution to any dilemma we can at once rejoice that we are endeavoring to do the right thing. That very yearning is blessed of our Father. We read in the chapter "Prayer" in the textbook, "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." Ibid., p. 1.
As we trust God to shape and exalt our desires, we will find that even our surest sense of right can often be purified and clarified beyond our present apprehension. Once our thought is unfettered by what the material senses are reporting, we may wake to a solution that is suddenly obvious. The mortal view always presents limited alternatives, but yielding to the divine Mind frees thought to perceive a wider view.
Here is an important point to remember. We can know that through prayer we will be prompted to do the morally right thing. Only as we silence the questioning, unsettled feeling that characterizes mortal mind can we feel the peace that accompanies and identifies the right course of action.
So how did I meet that summer's challenge when I was staff supervisor? With the prayerful support of a Christian Science practitioner I came to see that my first duty was to obey God. Since God is Truth, I knew I must pray for the uncovering of the error that would perpetuate a lie about God's sinless idea, man. As my focus altered from seeking only a human solution, to rejoicing over the established truth of Mind's omnipotent control, the question "What must I do?" became subordinate to the humble prayer "Thy will be done."
It occurred to me to speak again to my friend and impress him with the urgent necessity of preserving the integrity of the program for the present and future. Seeing his own role as more than a personal friend of the two offenders—as in fact the representative of Principle—he reported the incident to camp authorities. Consequently, a healing solution came in a way that broke no promises but fulfilled the higher law of Love, blessing the entire summer program and staff. Furthermore, a renewed commitment to the integrity of the program was made by all participants.
As we start with our love for God and work out from that, moral guidance is inevitable. Dilemmas persist when we start from the basis of uninspired human reasoning. The Pharisees revealed their limited sense of moral obligation in many of their questions to the Master, Christ Jesus: "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cassar, or not?" Matt. 22:17. "Moses in the law commanded us, that such [adulterers] should be stoned: but what sayest thou?" John 8:5. The preceding biblical account in each case indicates the limited, materialistic concept of being these questioners entertained. But Jesus knew the truth. He understood that Principle and divine Love are one. Thereby he resolved each supposed moral dilemma by a divinely inspired answer. Just as effectively now as then, Christ, Truth, can correct and govern the lives of all.
The dedicated Christian Scientist strives to be the very best he knows how to be in every walk of life—as relative, friend, businessman, citizen. Because of his deep love for God, he is compelled by grace to act in accord with the law of Love. He seeks to be guided by unchanging Principle, to do only what is honorable at all times.
One's expression of divine Principle can never conflict with his reflection of divine Love. Being a faithful friend is forever in accord with being a conscientious business person. Why? Because all right action is supported and governed by the harmonizing law of God. With a fuller awareness of our relationship to the Father as His beloved children, we can expect to find God's blessings encompassing our daily lives. In Proverbs we read this promise: "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." Prov. 10:22.
Principle and Love are forever one. And as we become conscious of our own inseparable relation to the divine, our present experience will increasingly harmonize with the truth of being, and moral dilemmas will be resolved.
