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Positive
•
tn a
Negative
by
Jeff E. Zhorne
Read here how to face life's cares and
stresses.
It
does take more than mental gymnastics.
''You.
OUGHT
to
~e
able t.o
wnte on bemg posl-
tive," said the editors of
this magazine when the staff
asked me to write this article.
"After all, you just got
engaged!"
The fact is, r ight now I'm having
difficulty being positive. Yes, I am
engaged to be married in little less
than two months. But I just found
out this week that my only car-a
1966 Volvo-threw a rod into the
block.
In other words, the mechanic
says, I need a whole new engine.
Great news, particularly as every
penny my fiancée and
1
have is
devoted-make tbat
was
devoted–
to the wedding, honeymoon, apart–
ment and so forth.
Life Does Get Tough
For most of us, life gets tough at
one time or another. Each day a
barrage of petty t roubles-and
sorne not so petty-lies in waiting,
ready to explode upon us as soon as
we get up in tbe morning. Devas–
tating things can happen: personal
unhappiness, family tragedy, busi–
ness failure. These circumstances
10
infect the mind, gnaw at the emo–
tions and threaten to destroy the
heart of a person.
Workers may begin a business day
enthusiastically, but after brusque
criticisms from colleagues, bosses or
just fellow drivers on a crowded
highway, the day degenerates, pro–
ducing a negative frame of mind.
At home we read newspapers or
watch television news filled with dis–
tressing stories about rapes, child
abuse, theft and other crimes.
lf
that's not bad enough , we find
areas of the worldwide economy in
uncertain straits. Add to that the
ever-present threat of nuclear war.
Meanwhile, our bodies are growing
older, the car more decrepit, the sav–
ings account tbinner.
What a negative picture! Yet it
need not be this way.
Li fe, of course, has its peaks and
valleys. lt's hard not to focus on
troubles of the moment. There is,
however, reason to be really posi–
tive!
And it doesn't involve a con–
trived, artificial, pie-in-the-sky
frarne of mind.
More than Positive Thinking
The cornmon panacea for defeating
negativism, according to sorne
books and magazines, is to force
your mind to think positively.
Just shut out the negative, they
tout. You need only to realize how
fortunate you are, that for the first
time in all the difficult centuries of
humankind you no longer need to
work from early morning until late
at night, six days a week, just to
earn enough to keep food on the
table.
Tbis article, by contrast, points
to something that supersedes the
realm of merely telling yourself,
"Everything is going to be all
right," or, "You can solve all your
problerns on your own."
There is, fortunately , one true
source of spiritual knowledge about
everything pure, good, uplifting
and positive. That is the Bible. lt
reveals knowledge essential for
man. The Bible is an instruction
book by our Maker. It teaches that
the first man, Adam, rejected the
laws of God that give purpose to
life. Ever since, the human race has
been engaged in the futile quest of
trying to discover a way of life that
will bring lasting peace and happi–
ness.
l f we analyze the contents of the
Bible as the foundation of knowl–
edge we find the exarnple of King
The
PLAIN TRUTH