Perhaps at some time in our experience we have heard a friend or acquaintance say with some measure of pride, "You know I am a perfectionist." This announcement is intended to convey the information that the one who places himself in this category is a very meticulous person, demanding perfection in every detail of human experience. Such a high standard of perfectness would seem to be deserving of our complete approval, even of our emulation, were it not for the accompanying observation that such self-styled perfectionists do not usually express that quiet, joyful serenity, that steadfast assurance of good, which should companion perfection. Instead of expressing the poise, the peace, and the natural joy of being which we as Christian Scientists know to be the true state of man as the emanation of God, these individuals sometimes present a mortal picture of anxiety, tension, criticism, and discontent. They are inclined to see what is wrong in every situation, instead of what is right.
What is the trouble? Is not the demand for perfection a correct mental attitude? Certainly one should not condemn himself for his desire for work well done, for the manifestation of completeness, order, harmony, health, joy, and beauty. But if the method of attaining these evidences of perfection is wrong, one must change his method. To work from the premise of present imperfection to get rid of a problem is not the way of Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy provides a basic scientific truth in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" in these words (p. 290): "Perfection is gained only by perfection." This statement constitutes both warning and enlightenment—warning against working out from the standpoint of imperfection to obtain the desired goal, and enlightenment as to the correct method of procedure.
In the preceding quotation from Science and Health our Leader is obviously not referring to mortal or human perfection either as a cause or as an effect, since she teaches that matter and materiality are unreal. How could that which is unreal be perfect? But the writer of Hebrews tells us (11:3), "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." So today, by our understanding and our undeviating adherence to Truth we prove that the universe and man, as well as all the conditions of existence, are framed by God's Word. The healing power of the Word is indeed omnipotent, not only "to the pulling down of strong holds" (II Cor. 10:4), but to the healing of the minutest inharmonious detail of daily experience.
