Christian Science teaches that the real man has a spiritual personality, which is the reflection of the one infinite Person, God. This good and perfect personality is the direct opposite of the human sense of personality. Science shows that personality, humanly conceived, has nothing to do with the real man. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 337), "Material personality is not realism; it is not the reflection or likeness of Spirit, the perfect God." This statement is based upon the truth, revealed by the Scriptures, that God, infinite Spirit, Mind, Truth, created man in His likeness and that therefore man must be spiritual, perfect, eternal. The real man, then, cannot be a mortal; he must be an immortal, spiritual idea. And because God is individual, infinite personality, His idea expresses His individuality or personality, which is the very antipode of corporeal personality.
The belief in human personality is the basis of many of the problems which beset mankind. For example, the unhappiness, anger, resentment, selfishness, and envy that rise up to torment one are the result of accepting personal sense as real, instead of seeing man as God's spiritual image. Mrs. Eddy saw the need of getting rid of this sense of personality. And in "Miscellaneous Writings" she says (p. 310), "To impersonalize scientifically the material sense of existence—rather than cling to personality —is the lesson of to-day." The quicker we learn this lesson, the sooner we shall reap the wonderful benefits it brings.
"To impersonalize scientifically the material sense of existence," one starts with the fact that the true sense of existence is spiritual, and he goes on to realize that God's creation consists of spiritual ideas. Thus he replaces the personalized sense of material existence with the truth of Love's spiritual kingdom, peopled with God's children. In this kingdom there are only spiritual individualities, each expressing God in the individual way of His appointing.
One may not be aware that he is giving power to personality. But he is if he is believing that there is someone whom he resents because of wrongdoing, or someone whom he likes for material reasons. God's man—the only man there is—is spiritual and perfect now. He is loved because he is the reflection of Love. He cannot be criticized, because his individuality does not deviate from perfection. Then let us refuse to believe in mortal man or mortal personality.
As we follow Mrs. Eddy's instructions, we learn not to cling to finite personality. She says (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 308, 309), "I earnestly advise all Christian Scientists to remove from their observation or study the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or evil." To comply with this, one must, as always, start with the great basic fact that God is All, that He has created all, and that all is perfect, including man. The acceptance of the truth that man is perfect, spiritual, enables one to see the falsity of personal sense and all that it claims.
The suggestion that one has an unduly retiring personality, or is too submissive or too forward, or too vacillating, is based upon the belief that man is material and fettered by laws of materiality. This belief must be handled by obeying Isaiah's admonition (2:22), "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." Error's suggestions must be detected, denied, and replaced with the truth of man's individuality as Mind's unlimited, free expression.
Possibly nowhere more than in the field of human relationships does the belief in material personality cause trouble. Too often in homes and businesses there is discord and unhappiness because of clashing personalities, manifest as stubbornness, hate, indifference, selfishness, pride, and jealousy. Usually in such situations each one considers someone else, not himself, at fault. One finding himself in such a situation should ask himself: Am I seeing a corporeal mortal or a son of God? Am I believing in a human personality or am I seeing my brother as an individual idea of Love? Am I accepting what error claims about mortal man, or am I perceiving my own individuality and my brother's as spiritual, perfect, God-ordered? Am I believing that a mortal's personality can ever affect my happiness, my destiny, or my God-ordained relationship with His children?
It is most important that we reject the lies of mortal mind and stand firmly on the Rock, Christ, knowing that here and now there is no man but God's man, whose individuality expresses unceasingly and exclusively the qualities of Mind. If one feels that he is not growing in Christian Science as much as he should, he would do well to examine his thoughts and see how much reality he is giving to error's claims about personality.
Many of the major problems that beset the world today are related to the belief that persons, either good or bad, appear to have a controlling influence over the affairs of men. How helpful it is for the Christian Scientist to know that true control is exercised by divine Mind and is expressed through spiritual individualities. The claim that influential persons can dominate erroneously is not true. Right where they seem to be, Love's ideas are acting under Mind's direction to do that which blesses all.
As we replace the beliefs of mortal personality with the truth of spiritual individuality, we prove that all of God's children are united to each other in the bonds of love and brotherhood. We substitute love and understanding for hate and fear. We understand practically the Christly message that infinite Love and its infinite manifestation constitute all reality.
