When I was the Mayor of Seattle 24 years ago, I belonged to a group of men that met once a week at an early breakfast for prayer, Bible reading and discussion. We were of many denominations and therefore of many opinions. But we all believed in God, that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, that the irresistible force of God in the world is love.
I soon noticed that after each morning meeting my day went better than normal. The other men admitted the same thing. Our work seemed easier to accomplish, our relations with others were more harmonious, the day seemed richer. Many of us felt that merely having gained more Bible knowledge was not the answer; it was deeper than just knowledge, it was the spiritual impact from this love-filled book and the challenge to try out the eternal truths that it expressed.
In our studies and discussing God’s word, I had been particularly impressed by Paul’s letter to the
Corinthians on the subject of love and Henry Drummond’s book entitled Love is the Greatest Thing in the World. This book explains the spectrum of love and helps break it down to practical and understandable dimensions.
As an awareness of God’s willingness to help in problem solving became more apparent to me, more and more I turned to Him in prayer followed by meditation. I found that decisions large and small made in love brought excellent results.
Since then, deterred from time to time only by my own limitations, I have tried to follow this same procedure before making decisions. That is, I ask God what I should do. There are occasions when I am puzzled for a time as to whether the answer I seem to be getting is actually God’s will, or my own thoughts and self-will. But it is my conviction that I know an infallible way by which to test the answers I get: if it is indeed God’s answer, my action will be rooted in love.
What happens then is that one manages to get the emphasis away from self. One begins to think of actions to produce the most spiritual opportunity for the most people.
You do not have to be told when you decide against love. Usually the most deadened conscience knows when its attitudes are rooted in resentment, prejudice, envy, pride, when its motivations are self-profit, self-protection, self-importance.
Several years ago came a very difficult decision involving my career. After serving two terms as Mayor of Seattle and three terms as Governor of Washington, national leaders of my party urged me to run for the United States Senate. I did not wish to do this; administrative not legislative work was more interesting to me and seemed a greater field of service. Besides, I wanted more time now with my family. However, my wife and I made the decision together on the basis of the love principle. We agreed that my political experience should not be put aside because I preferred a more private life. I became a candidate for the Senate and worked harder in that campaign than I had in any other. But I lost.
Friends told me that it was a shame my public career should end in the darkness of defeat, but I did not feel defeated. In fact, I felt great. I trusted in the “love” decision that I had made. Soon after this experience a new career opened up in the business world where I have been busier and happier than ever.
I have never been involved in a “love” decision which, whatever the immediate effects, did not eventually prove abundantly rewarding in some way or another. I have never been involved in a “self” decision which, sooner or later, did not boomerang, causing embarrassment, frustration and a loss of some kind.
It is my conviction that the responsibility for making “love” or “self” decisions is one of the most dignifying traits of human beings. No other creatures, animal or plant, face that responsibility. They merely respond to the forces of nature.
Only human beings have the free will to accept or reject God’s will, to use faith-talents positively or to bury them in the ground. Only human beings have the alternative of living within the orbit of God’s love or outside it.
