I yearn for peace in the world today and to know how to make a difference. Yet there are times when we must take a firm stand for what is right. You may feel the same. I had a series of experiences which led me to understand that there are things that I can do.
As a young man in school, I learned that the country (now Czech Republic and Slovakia), where my grandfather was born, was being overrun by a powerful and oppressive outside regime. My first thought was to leave school, travel to that country and become part of the resistance movement. At that time I decided to continue with my schooling in part due to the thought that it wouldn’t make a difference.
About 20 years later I visited this country with an aunt which was still under the rule of the oppressive regime. By that time I had begun to understand that there are spiritual laws governing the universe and I was attempting to learn more about these laws and how they operate. I was struck by one statement by Mary Baker Eddy in her publication The First Church of Christ Scientist and Miscellany where she states, “The First Commandment in the Hebrew Decalogue – Thou shalt have no other gods before me, — obeyed, is sufficient to still all strife” (279:11-13). I was looking for peace in this situation and stilling all strife fit this goal perfectly.
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