What happened when I stopped the sale

Many years ago when I was only a few years out of college, I was promoted to a high-level position in a company that was having major financial problems. Income had not been meeting expenses for quite some time. Finally, we found a buyer for one of the company’s properties. The sale was scheduled to close just in time to pay down a debt that was about to go to foreclosure. The sale would also help to meet other pressing financial obligations. There was no time to spare and the events of closing were planned down to the hour.

On the day of closing all the co-owners of the property, which included my boss, were to meet in a distant city and sign the necessary documents. A company secretary was then immediately to board a plane and carry the documents to the closing later in the day.

When the secretary called me to report that the documents had been signed, I detected something odd in the tone of her voice. I asked her what was wrong. Hesitatingly, she admitted that although every partner’s name was signed on all the documents, not everyone was actually present at the signing.

Now, I knew that every co-owner was very pleased with the prospect of the sale. So they were obviously not worried about their having cut some corners. The parties had dispersed, the secretary was on her way back, and my boss seemed satisfied. But the whole thing didn’t sit right with me, and I needed to know what I should do about this apparent act of forgery.

In high-pressure situations it can seem very difficult to discern the right course of action. However, I’ve learned from my study of the Bible that there are three commands that, if followed, will lead us onto the correct path. They are: 1) to love God supremely; 2) to love your neighbor as yourself; and 3) to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

In this case, I immediately began praying to God for help. Through my study of Christian Science I’d learned that God is divine Principle. I reasoned that to express my love for God I must conduct myself with strict honesty.

I also knew that my desire was to be obedient to Jesus’ command to love my neighbor as myself. To me this meant that I wouldn’t want any of these men to be involved with fraud, even for a good purpose. Finally, I felt a call to action—to do unto these partners what I would want them to do unto me if I wasn’t seeing things clearly.

I called my boss and told him I could not allow the sale to go through as one of the partners wasn’t present to sign and that his signature had been forged. My boss immediately swore at me, hung up on me, called me back and swore at me again. In the final emotional phone call from my boss, he told me that it was my personal responsibility if this sale didn’t close. Everything, he said, was on my shoulders.

I felt a great weight and fear descend on me. Employees needed to be paid overdue wages and salaries, creditors needed relief, and there was no apparent human way to correct the situation in time for the scheduled closing that afternoon.

I closed my office door and prayed for guidance again. Despite more mental battles with fear, I continued to listen for direction. A simple verse from the Bible came to mind: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Because I had allowed the three great commands from the Bible to guide me, I felt I had done all I could do for the moment. I thought to myself, “Well, this is where the rubber of faith meets the road of practice. I either believe God is real and present, or I don’t.” Slowly, deep down in my heart I felt the gentle, and growing, assurance that I could trust God, that He would deliver us all and show us the way to meet the deadline.

In her Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy wrote this passage, which has meant a great deal to me over the years: “Sincerity is more successful than genius or talent” (p. 9). This has given me great hope that success follows the sincere love of God, love of other people, and the desire to act accordingly. I felt assured that there would be success because I knew my heartfelt desires were sincere and moral.

Then, like a shaft of clear light piercing the gray fog of a Maine morning, a totally new idea came to mind. It was to send, via overnight courier, a new set of blank documents to each of the sellers, who by now were in different geographic locations. Each one would individually sign his document and overnight it back to our home office.

The company attorney told me that although he had never heard of the idea before, there was no reason it wouldn’t legally work for a closing. As we carried out the idea, I was also able to obtain an extension from the creditors until the next day. The closing successfully occurred within 24 hours of the original date, thereby allowing the urgent financial obligations at that time to be met.

Being ethical and moral in our walk and ways isn’t just doing things right (following the rules). It is also doing the right (moral) thing. It might feel that society constrains us with its ethical rules and moral obligations. But these rules actually act as spiritual foghorns or signposts that help us stay on the path that leads to blessing for everyone, the path where we feel the presence of God.

In making decisions, I’ve found that if the white halo of ethical and moral threads are not clearly woven into the fabric of an option, I avoid it—even if the golden rings of expediency and profit appear to be hovering just above. The wisdom of that approach has been made clear to me over and over again.

Those three great commands found in the Bible—asking ourselves if a course of action will fulfill our purpose of loving God supremely, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and doing unto others as we would have them do unto us—will give us the clear direction we need. These spiritual touch points generate an energy in our lives that will guide us to ethical, moral, and God-inspired choices where everyone is blessed.

Scott Jenkins lives in Chesterfield, Missouri, United States.

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