Is Second Best good enough?
by Miles Paine
For anyone inquiring about the work of Frank Buchman it might be said that that his life was based on Christian moral standards, summarised as absolute honesty, purity, love and unselfishness—combined with following God’s guidance by listening to the ‘inner voice’.
But how does one distinguish one’s own thinking and reasoning from God’s ‘guidance’, if in fact such is available? ‘Inspiration’ as normally understood doesn’t quite fit the bill. It is a brave soul who attempts to give a coherent explanation. I will not try. But there have been instances in my life of an unexpected thought which, when followed, has brought unexpected results.
The need to offer a meaning for the word ‘guidance’ became more insistent in my latter years when meeting younger people, especially from Eastern Europe, following the collapse of the Soviet empire. I and others with whom I worked outlined for them the development of democracy over many centuries–in Britain. This was for a course called ‘Foundations for Freedom’.
I hope that these pages may help, to some extent, to illustrate a few personal examples of my understanding of ‘guidance’. M.P.
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