Spiritual individuality is very precious, and its cultivation and expression are important to the Christian Scientist. To understand the nature of individuality and progressively to demonstrate it in daily life can therefore be an occupation of major interest, as well as an inspiring and joyous pursuit.
Individuality connotes spontaneity, variety, originality, unfoldment, and characterizes man, the reflection of God. It is man's divinely bestowed birthright. As the student apprehends more and more the nature of God and his own inseparable relationship to God, he naturally expresses more of his own spiritual individuality. The mediocrity, dreariness, and frustration of a finite and personal sense of things give way to the grandeur and infinity of spiritual being.
In the demonstration of true individuality, however, the student must be alert to certain pitfalls. The obstacles that oppose and obscure this freer and fuller sense of being all stem from the false belief that man is a mortal living precariously in a realm of matter and having to cope with other mortal personalities. General theories claim that in order to be happy and successful in his relations with other mortals, an individual must become well adjusted and must conform to popular standards and trends. In order to conform to a certain image of what is considered successful or socially acceptable, one is likely to sacrifice an individualistic approach.
