In an article titled "Deification of Personality," Mary Baker Eddy says: "Christian Scientists should beware of unseen snares, and adhere to the divine Principle and rules for demonstration. They must guard against the deification of finite personality." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 307; Further along in the same article she says, "I earnestly advise all Christian Scientists to remove from their observation or study the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or evil." pp. 308, 309;And she sums up her article with this concise statement: "To impersonalize scientifically the material sense of existence—rather than cling to personality—is the lesson of to-day." p. 310;
To comply with this counsel, one can start with the basic fact that God, Spirit, is All and has created all and therefore true existence is spiritual. The acceptance of this truth enables one to see the falsity of a material, limited sense of good. By forgetting that God, divine Principle, is the source of all good, and by clinging to a material sense of personality, one is hindered in making spiritual progress.
What is personal sense? It is the belief that man is a corporeal personality instead of the spiritual idea of God, divine Mind. Personal sense indulges in all sorts of erroneous suggestions, such as: I am unhappy; I am poor; I am ill; I am defeated and discouraged; or, conversely, I am right, you are wrong; I am successful, he is a failure; I am important, she is unimportant; and so on. The acceptance of such suggestions results in resentment, envy, anger, conceit, and other conditions that serve only to deceive or torment one.
