Crossroads

Most of us know what it's like to be rolling along and then come to a crossroads on the highway of life. Suddenly, some choice is required or you can't keep going. Which way should I go? It's a moment of truth.

There have been times when I've felt totally confused. Attempts to reason it out didn't help. After all the mental wrestling, sorting it out, and adding it up ... nothing. Still a total blur. "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," said Yogi Berra, humorist-sage of the New York Yankees. That pretty much sums up how ridiculously confusing things can look when you try to solve problems using brainpower!

Well, I'm beginning to learn a more effective way to get light. It involves looking for the answer in a realm beyond the physical - the realm of God. God is not far away. God is here. God is the divine intelligence, or Mind, of the universe - an infinite, always-with-you source of guidance and illumination.

I was once at a career crossroads. My job was getting me down. I felt unchallenged and unappreciated. I wanted to be in a place where I fit in better and where my skills and talents could be better used. I looked for a new job, but I couldn't find one. I found myself at a crossroads between discouragement and hope.

After a lot of mental wrestling, I eventually chose hope - that is, I chose God, the source of hope. The way I figured it, the Mind that made me loved me, and knew just where I ought to be at all times, in the best interest of everyone, and I could trust that Mind to make sure I was there. If this meant staying where I was, fine. If it meant moving on down some other road, I was ready. I didn't pray for a new job. I didn't pray to leave. I stayed with the idea that nothing could interfere with God's good plan from taking full shape in my life. As the Bible says, "God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof" (Job 28:23).

I continued to do my best in the job I had, while keeping my eyes peeled for new possibilities. More than a year went by, and then I got a letter from a really wonderful organization that I'd never contacted. They had heard about my work through the grapevine and wanted to hire me. Off I went.

To me, the key was choosing God. The words of a new song put it this way:

When you come to a fork in the road

Choose God -

His Love has strength untold

You always have a choice

He never ignores your voice

He knows your needs before you ask -

Choose God.

(Joan Marshman and Berke McKelvey)

I'm finding that choosing God washes away confusion, disappointment, envy, and fear. I feel watched over and loved. Safe. Confident that divine Mind is governing my life in tangible ways.

Ultimately, choosing God means letting go of a depressing, matter-based view of existence. It means seeing life through a spiritual lens. This lens lets you see that you are spiritual, just as God made you. You are Spirit's child. Your Mother-Father, who is infinite good, is providing you with everything you need - hope, patience, wisdom, excellence, opportunity.

The founder of the Monitor, Mary Baker Eddy, said that divine intelligence controls our lives here and now: "Immortal Mind, governing all," she wrote, "must be acknowledged as supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual" ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," pg. 427).

Divine Mind is in charge. God's intelligent, lovely plan for you includes clarity, purpose, and fulfillment. When standing at any crossroads, you can instinctively feel the peace and inspiration this knowledge brings.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor