The word "sacrifice," in its religious connotation, is of profound importance to people in all parts of the world. From primitive religions to Christianity, sacrifice was held to be a fundamental phase of worship. And it is so held by the student of Christian Science, for one's advancement in the demonstration of this Science depends largely upon one's ready willingness to sacrifice. However, the teachings of Christian Science shed a new and revolutionary light upon the concept of sacrifice.
What is the spiritually scientific method of sacrifice, as well as the priceless reward of such sacrifice? Mrs. Eddy, the revelator of Truth to this age, writes on page 326 of Science and Health, "We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time-honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour."
Material systems are based upon the erroneous belief that a mind termed "mortal" has existence and reality. Our Leader states succinctly in Science and Health, "The basic error is mortal mind" (p. 405). This, then, is the false consciousness which must be forsaken and replaced with real consciousness, the Christly understanding of the allness and oneness of God, divine Mind. To deny the validity of a fleshly mind and to claim the divine Mind as supreme and all-inclusive cannot impoverish us. Rather, this true sacrifice enriches our experience. Mortal mind, which is nothing more than the aggregate of false beliefs, would oppose all that is good, real, and enduring. Therefore, to abandon this valueless claim and to replace it with the omnipotence of Truth, or divine Mind, is to lay hold on all that is truly substantial.
