ALTHOUGH men have generally accepted the fact that to be envious is most often to be arrayed against that which is noble and good, yet there is, perhaps, no sin which is more universally, though it may sometimes be unconsciously, indulged. Envy has betrayed mankind into all sorts of discontent and evil, from the petty discomfort which results when one allows himself to be disquieted because another possesses something he imagines is better than has fallen to his lot, to the awful wrong of attempting to harm the one whose excellence or good fortune has, he believes, in some way eclipsed or interfered with his own.
The Bible has much to say of envy, invariably uncovering its outrageous, detestable nature. There we are told that men "shall . . . be ashamed for their envy." It also says that envy is "the rottenness of the bones." Hence every honest heart must long to be delivered from all bondage to such an evil, and Christian Science points out the path of escape.
Under the light of Christian Science it does not take long for the student to discern that the arguments of envy are all based on the false foundation of self-love; that envy's every claim is some form— more or less exaggerated—of selfishness. Through the lens of belief in a false material selfhood, envy always looks for some selfish gain, some exaltation of personal self, some self-emolument. Looking for its own interests, it is ever imagining that some one else is in the way of its advancement. It is, therefore, quick to resent, quick to listen to arguments— audible or inaudible—which depreciate another's rights, his efforts or accomplishments.
