It is agreed that one of the basic causes of crime and violence is the sense of frustration that pervades the experience of many individuals. What underlies frustration is the limitation of opportunity, supply, or a just share of the benefits of modern society. Efforts are being made by both government and business to broaden the base of opportunity and to extend the benefits. There is a definite metaphysical activity necessary to support these human efforts and to open the thoughts of men to a wider range of experience. It is to attack the sense of limitation that is inherent in mortal thinking and that can be antidoted only by the Christ, the spiritual ideal.
The fact that God is infinite, ever-present good, and that He is utterly impartial in His beneficence and love, is the basic challenge to limitation. This divine Principle is the center and substance of all individuality, and hence is available to everyone without limitation. Mrs. Eddy sets the stage for a greater measure of fulfillment to be demonstrated. She says, "Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual,—they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite,—in order that sin and mortality may be put off."Science and Health, p. 265;
This may sound like a large order—to expect those in limited circumstances to begin to conceive a "proper sense of the infinite." But the fact is that in all advances in human capacity the idea must precede the manifestation. Mental extension must accompany the material preparations for advancement. Without the extension or expansion of thought the material steps have no meaning, and in the long run the individuals tend to revert to former conditions.
