SELF-EXAMINATION

ABBIE H. SKINNER.

If one is ever struggling with a belief of illness, thought has to be carefully examined, for we know that all conditions are mental. The following was found in a publication which is not at all given to Christian Science views: "No serious-minded person ever goes through an illness without gratitude for the chance it gives him to think." Browning says,—

Hear the truth, and bear the truth,
And bring the truth to bear on all you are
And do.

This is just what we ought to do if we find ourselves in a discordant physical condition. It means, "Watch and pray;" or, as our beloved Leader counsels us, "Stand porter at the door of thought" (Science and Health, p. 393). St. Paul says, "Ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man." "With his deeds" is impressive, since it leaves no chance for a hope that we can put off the old man and continue to do evil. It is the daily thinking which needs to be purified and made strong. As Phillips Brooks expresses it in one of his poems,—

Give us this day our daily bread, we pray;
And give us likewise, Lord, our daily thought.

We read in Proverbs that "the heart knoweth its own bitterness;" and each knows his own deeds. I do not have to know the specific deeds of a patient; I do not have to ferret them out. The overcoming of the belief in evil is his own work. I know that as God's child one has spiritual and physical freedom. Man is not subject to matter, neither indeed can be. Mrs. Eddy says, "Spiritual law ... overcomes material conditions and puts matter under the feet of Mind" (Science and Health, p. 182).

If our best moods continually dominated our whole life, we should all live well. We all mean to live well: at least there are times with all of us when we resolve to do so,—New Year days, birthdays, and other times. It would be well for us if there were some way of perpetuating these better moods and living up to these good intentions. If a life is to be admirable when finished, its periodical good intentions must become strong, self-sustaining principles, shaping its every act and ruling all its days and hours.—J. R. Miller.

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