Mortals believe, until otherwise instructed by Christian Science, that the human race consists of many minds; that is, each mortal believes in a separate personality, a separate ego, which he claims as his own, and this ego is for him the center of the universe in which he moves.
Most people are familiar with the teachings of Copernicus, and his follower Galileo who pointed out that instead of being the center of the universe, round which all the stellar system revolves, the earth is, comparatively speaking, but a small speck in illimitable space which would be scarcely noticeable if represented on a chart of the heavens. This truth must have considerably reduced the exaggerated belief of our planet's importance in relation to the other stellar bodies. Looking up into the sky on a clear, starry night, one feels deeply humbled by contemplation of the vastness, the glory, the unfathomable spaces of those great depths, and something of that mortal sense which calls itself "I" drops away in the wonder of it all.
Until Christian Science comes to enlighten one's understanding, thoughts mainly revolve around himself. His cares, his problems, are his little world, outside of which all things else may seem of but small importance. To this circumscribed state of thought comes the light of Christian Science, piercing through the heavy shadows and flooding human consciousness with spiritual ideas which lead out of the bondage of a so-called material ego. Then one begins to discern that for him a new selfhood is unfolding, a new heaven and a new earth are shifting into light, and that he must learn to deny the subtle testimony of the material senses. One learns that the truths of Christian Science are really very simple and beautiful, but that Christian Science cannot remain to him a mere theory. Now must begin the practical demonstration thereof; and many are the angel thoughts pointing upward to guide him all the way. Our Leader writes in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 118), "Be of good cheer; the warfare with one's self is grand; it gives one plenty of employment, and the divine Principle worketh with you,—and obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting victory."
