IN the epistle of Paul to the Romans we read: "Therefore thou art excusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." One of the most subtle errors which assail mortals is this temptation to judge and criticize our fellow-men. We see a fault or failing so clearly in another that, unless we are very much on the alert to guard against this temptation, we are likely to fall into the sin of judging and condemning which St. Paul exposes in such strong terms. Condemnation of others means self-righteousness and self-justification in ourselves; we are like the Pharisee, thanking God that we are "not as other men are." But St. Paul tells us plainly that those who judge others do the same things; and while at first this seems a hard saying, and we are inclined to pass it over as a mere figure of speech, with the aid of the search-light of Christian Science we are able to see and understand the meaning of St. Paul's words.
Christian Science teaches us that all evil is a false belief, a false state of consciousness. Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health (p. 71) that "evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense." If a patient comes to us for help, either physical or moral, we know that in order to heal him we must be able to see clearly the allness of God, good, and the nothingness of the seeming disease or sin. Our work is so to declare the omnipotence and omnipresence of Truth, both for ourselves and for our patient, that, as darkness departs before the light, so error is destroyed by Truth. But in our every-day dealings with our fellow-men we are often led away by error to act in a totally different manner. Little faults and failings of his become very real to us, we sometimes speak of them to others, and allow them to annoy and irritate us, forgetting that by so doing we are believing in their reality just the same way as the brother who is manifesting the discord; it is as real to us as to him, and so there is nothing to choose between us.
In Matthew's gospel we read: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Every fault or sin which we make a reality of in another will sooner or later, if undestroyed, try to use our consciousness as a channel for its evil purpose. The path of Christian Science is a very straight one, and we must not deviate one hair's breadth from the right path, for if we do we shall have to retrace our steps, often in sorrow and pain. The earnest student needs to be on the watch-tower every moment. He cannot afford to take any risks of leaving his consciousness unguarded, he must be always on the alert against the subtle creeping error.
