One summer, when a friend and I were taking a vacation together, it became clear that we had completely different views and goals—so different that things she said and did hurt and annoyed me. In retrospect these differences were trivial, as I no longer even remember what they were. Yet after our vacation, negative thoughts continued to weigh on me.
Self-centeredness played a role in my feeling of annoyance. Then I read Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of “I am” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “God; incorporeal and eternal Mind; divine Principle; the only Ego.” And on the same page, in her definition of “I, or Ego,” I found this statement: “There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; . . .” (p. 588).
I asked myself, Could God, the only Ego, be bruised? I had to admit that the answer was no, and that spiritual man, as His expression, could not be bruised either. From my study of Christian Science, I knew that everything in God’s creation reflects His perfection, so in truth there is always harmony between God’s children, never discord. I did my best to correct my thinking about the situation and accept only thoughts that have their source in God.
