The story of Achilles is interesting from the standpoint of Christian Science. As every one knows, Achilles was a Greek hero, whose exploits in the Trojan war are celebrated by Homer. It is related that when he was born, his mother desired for him a special favor from the gods on Mount Olympus. She asked nothing less than that he should be invulnerable to all attack, which was a particularly shrewd request. In response to supposed instructions, the mother of the prospective warrior dipped him in the river Styx, holding him by the heel. This, it was alleged, made him invulnerable except in the heel, which was not touched by the water. In later years, he performed prodigies of valor and always escaped injury, until one day he was shot in the heel by a poisoned arrow, and died.

I take it we may receive some instruction from ancient mythology, when we understand that mortal mind was the same then as it is to-day, and that the mythical accounts of ancient heroes were efforts to depict this human mind and its frailties. It is very apparent that every mortal has his "Achilles heel," some faulty condition of thought. It is evident that any attack to be successful would have to be directed against the weakest spot. It also seems to be the especial business of evil to deliver its attack there. We need not be surprised at this. Evil would cease to exist if it did not claim to act intelligently. If we are fully satisfied that the situation is fairly presented in the foregoing propositions, the wise man will set about doing two things. He will first ask himself, "Where is my most vulnerable place?" and finding it, he will proceed carefully to protect himself at this point.

This is another way of stating what we know so well, in theory, to be the daily work of the Christian Scientist. Our Leader, whose wisdom has explored all these devious ways, gives us the benefit of her discoveries. She says, "Learn what in thine own mentality is unlike the Anointed and cast it out" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 355). We are vulnerable wherever we are unlike the Christ nature. When we have brought every thought into subjection to Christ, there is no more temptation. The suggestions of evil assail us on every side, but we most frequently suffer defeat at the point of our least resistance.

Jesus, the ideal man, was impervious to attack at all points. He said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." When mortal mind talks to us, how much of its own does it find in us? How many of its claims upon us are we allowing? How much of our bodies do we yield to its claims? How much of our lives do we give up to the prince of this world? The 91st Psalm describes the man who has no "Achilles heel," who is safe in the secret place, who is fearless, who knows he cannot be attacked successfully at any point. This man, of whom it is said that no evil shall befall him, has cast out of his consciousness all thoughts that are not God's thoughts, has purified himself, "even as he is pure," and has lifted his thought above the impress of an evil suggestion.

The first duty, then, is to discover where we are most exposed. Ignorance does not keep out the enemy. Mrs. Eddy describes this process in Science and Health, p. 392. "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you may control yourself harmoniously." Have we discovered through which mental door the one evil intrudes itself upon us most often? Do we know our weakest point? It may be a moral question, it may be belief in heredity, it may be any one of the myriad beliefs that body can be diseased. Is it temper, irritability, lack of self-control, churlishness, sullenness? Then let us work hardest to strengthen our defence at these points,—sweeten existence by patient obedience to the loving guidance of a wise and tender Parent. If we do not want irritated and angry conditions in the body, we must abide always in peace, serene in our love for God and man. Is it self-will, pride, greed, lust of anything—of money, power, or place? Then we must needs devote much prayerful work to the healing of these blemishes. Do we believe that our body is strong in every organ and function but one? Then we need to know that divine Mind governs all His creation, not omitting any part. Is some one's personality especially attractive or repellent to us? Then the fatherhood and motherhood of God needs to be better understood and the brotherhood of spiritual ideas must be more clearly realized. Do we fear matter in any of its forms? Do we love matter in any of its forms? Then every thought has not been brought into subjection to Spirit, and there are weak places in every joint of the armor.

Does mortal mind harp most upon the string called appetite, in whatever form that claim may manifest itself? Do we fail to progress because of instability and vacillation? These are some of the doors through which error reaches one or another. There is a wide door called sensitiveness, and it is variously known as love of approbation, selfconsciousness, vanity. Do we care too much for what "people" think of us or say of us? Do we belong to a religious family and a long established church, and do we fear what any one would say if we made a change in our habits of thought? Then we need to know that God is more to us than any earthly interest, and that nothing short of a full surrender to Him will usher us into a complete realization of harmony,—heaven.

Christian Science bids us be honest with ourselves, fearlessly and relentlessly hunting down every abject, earthborn thought, and ridding ourselves of it as rapidly as may be. This work need not be confused with self-depreciation, for we learn to discard evil as no part of the God-created self. Nor need we publish the results of our self-examination. If we know the faults and are working to destroy them, it suffices. The task is not dispiriting, for thus saith our God and Saviour. "I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick." Observe, it is God who will do the strengthening, for He is the healer of all our diseases, and He is faithful to perform all that He has promised. Paul says, "Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Any man, with the whole armor on, may righteously expect to stand triumphantly. That is his reasonable reward for having on a whole armor. But let not him who is slovenly in his defence, or who is content with only a few pieces of the whole armor, wonder why he suffers, and why the fiery darts of the enemy so often find the exposed parts. "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you" (Science and Health, p. 571). No poisoned arrow will find its mark in us while we are dwelling in the consciousness of good. This is our strong defence, and there is none other.