ONE of the problems facing much of humanity over the centuries has been the need for room—room to expand, to express ideas, to carry out plans—in a word, elbow room. This need, or urge, often expresses itself in impatience and irritation when others seem to get in our way. Or irritation may come because we feel an actual lack of material space.
Prison officials report that one of their most serious disciplinary problems is caused by overcrowding. The constant pressure of other human beings in too close contact sometimes becomes oppressive to those confined. At other times the irritation may be unrelated to actual space. Instead, it may stem from the belief that others are in our way mentally, that they are preventing our progress, thwarting our desires, elbowing us.
What shall we do? As students of Christian Science how shall we order our thinking if we find ourselves confronted with some phase of this problem? We can know that it is the testimony of mortal mind, or the carnal mind, for as Science teaches us, in accord with the Bible, man is God's image and likeness, and he is always free. He is always at one with his creator, God.
