ARE we at peace with God and our fellowmen? Or do we have a rebellious sense because of our lot in life? Are we harboring a latent resentment toward some friend or relative? Are we carrying around an unhealed dislike of some business associate or acquaintance? Do we find ourselves questioning the motives and clarity of thought of certain workers in our church or in other churches?
The answer to these questions is important since it directly concerns our welfare. Harboring a pet dislike, cherishing bitterness, and balancing a mental chip on the shoulder can influence adversely our well-being and place king-size stumbling blocks in our path.
According to Christian Science, when thinking is filled with such errors, the serpent of mortal mind is tempting us. It is tempting us to believe that God is not infinite good and that God's creation is not perfect and complete. Thus we are being tempted to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We are believing that God is less than ever-present Love or less than the infinite, all wise wise Mind and that man is an unjust mortal—thoughtless, selfish, and sometimes hateful.
Indulgence in this kind of thinking results in a burdened sense of life and a loss of peace. Is it any wonder that such thinking engenders pressures and tensions, weariness, failing faculties, unhealed or partially healed physical discords? What is the remedy? Paul had a clear-cut answer to every phase of these temptations. In his Epistle to the Romans (12:21) he admonished, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." How grateful we can be that the solution of all problems is found in the overcoming of evil with good!
What is the good that does the overcoming? In the textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives this definition of "good" (p. 587): "God; Spirit; omnipotence; omniscience; omnipresence; omniaction." Good, then, is another name for God, Spirit. Therefore good is all the power, presence, intelligence, and action there is. Consequently, the good that overcomes evil is the omniaction of God.
Where is the evil that is to be overcome with this omniaction of God? Actually, nowhere. It is only thought to be somewhere. It is only one's false thought of God and of man. The false, or evil, thought that God, infinite good, can embody any element of error is overcome by the blessed truth that God is ever present present good. The false thought, or evil concept, that man can be the unlikeness of God, embodying hate, resentment, or rebellion, is overcome by the truth that man is the beloved image and likeness of God, Spirit. The false, or evil, thought of bitterness and resentment toward a friend or a relative is overcome by the spiritual awareness of the omnipresence of Love. This awareness of Love's omnipresence leaves no place in thought for a bitter or resentful presence.
The evil belief of dislike of a business associate or an acquaintance is overcome by the spiritual understanding of the omnipotence of good, God, and this understanding leaves no place for another intelligence or mind.
The evil belief that there is a mind other than the one divine Mind or that there are minds many is the basic evil to be overcome, for as long as it is believed, it follows that there can be in belief a mind to hate or be hated, to rebel or be rebelled against, to mesmerize or be mesmerized. Therefore, it is one's divine right to reject the evil belief of minds many. In place of this belief, one can accept unreservedly the truth that man is, as our Leader describes him, "that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker" (Science and Health, p. 475).
Since man reflects spiritually the only Mind, God, he has no mind separate from God, immortal Mind, and cannot manifest a mortal mind. What is called a mortal mind is merely the plea of the serpent that there is something apart from, or in addition to, God and God's perfect idea, man. The belief of mortal mind, the serpent and its plea, is designated by one name, animal magnetism, and we can reject animal magnetism with perfect assurance. Why? Because divine Mind has given us dominion over every belief of anything unlike Mind.
Animal magnetism actually has no bag of tricks to annoy, upset, confuse, or mesmerize one. It cannot find a berth or a foothold anywhere, nor can it through malicious arguments cause dissension, contaminate, reverse, or destroy. Furthermore, because divine Mind is ever present, animal magnetism cannot parade as an embittered friend, a resentful relative, a dishonest business associate, a dominating church worker, or a rebellious individual. The Bible declares (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Obeying this important commandment, we can have no Mind other than God, no Love other than God, no Principle other than God, and no Life other than God.
One may query, "But can this spiritual reasoning really work?" Let us see the practical side of this reasoning in the case of a young woman who had an unsightly skin disease which covered both of her hands and which had persisted for months. She was discouraged, not only because the condition was aggravated and ugly looking, but because it seemed to defy the power of Truth and tried to convince her that Truth's healing power was not effective in her case. In addition, she was concerned regarding the misguided actions and erroneous thinking of several individuals, as well as the irritation caused by a domestic problem. She had become so mesmerized by these various problems that she was confused regarding the pure truths of Christian Science.
Of a man, it is written in Proverbs (23:7), "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." From this passage, it is seen that the belief of mortal thinking claims to produce a certain mortal condition. Therefore if one is to heal an irritated physical condition, it is necessary for him to see the unreality of the irritated thought, or mind, producing such a condition and the spiritual reality of divine Mind.
The practitioner to whom the young woman turned for help realized with joy that God is the only Mind and that man has no separate mind from God but that he reflects spiritually the one all-loving Mind. Having no separate mind from God, man cannot be disturbed or irritated by another mind or by aggressive mental suggestions claiming to confuse or antagonize. There is no mind to have the power, presence, or existence to dim man's awareness of the perfection of God's universe and the ever-presence of divine Love.
In Science and Health we read (p. 539), "God could never impart an element of evil, and man possesses nothing which he has not derived from God." In this light the practitioner saw that man cannot possess anything unlike perfect Mind, called an irritated thought or misguided consciousness. Furthermore, man cannot, and does not, possess anything unlike Love, cherish or see anything unlike perfect, all-inclusive Love.
Gratefully the impurities of mortal thought were rejected as unreal. Divine Mind was acknowledged as supreme and ever present. It was not long before the skin condition had cleared completely, and the young woman was healed. The other troublesome problems were resolved harmoniously; but even more thrilling was the young woman's renewed and grateful appreciation for the truths of Christian Science. She had learned that there is no exception to Truth's healing power.
Let us thank God that man knows only what Mind knows and can be known only as Mind knows him, perfect, spiritual, and harmonious. As the beloved idea of Mind, man is motivated by divine Love, inspired by Soul, sustained and maintained by divine Life, governed by divine Principle, and can know and express only divine Truth. The acknowledgment and demonstration of these spiritual facts of the allness of God and of man's oneness, or unity, with Him is not only a duty but a privilege, for then are we sharing the benediction of Christ Jesus (Matt. 5:9), "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
