Article March 11, 1911 Issue

OUTLINING

PERCY TAYLOR.

In working out the problems of daily life, one thing that seems to hinder the progress of many who are taking their first steps in Christian Science is a desire to outline or direct the way in which they desire the truth to act. If the problem is a financial one, they are prone to wish that a certain property might be sold, or that a certain debtor should pay a particular debt, or that money should come through some special channel; and they endeavor to work to that end. By doing this they fail to realize that they are encouraging a sense of limitation and that such thoughts tend to lead one away from the realization that God is the source of all supply. They forget that there are countless channels through which supply may come; and often find, when a need has been met, that the way in which the supply came was one which had been entirely overlooked. It is not necessary for us to consider how our supply should come, if we realize that divine Love supplies to man all that he needs and that there is no lack in divine Mind.

Again, we often plan far into the future, regardless of the probability that our views may be entirely changed before the time comes for their realization, and failing to see that holding to our plan may cause us to disregard other and perhaps better ones than that which we are entertaining. Christ Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." If we are seeking God's kingdom, the reign of harmony, we are working out of our false sense of lack (for there is no lack in His creation) more surely, more fully, and more directly than by considering the situation from any human point of view.

In dealing with sickness, too, one is apt to think of the various symptoms, and in what order they should disappear, or we may be tempted to direct in some way the process of healing. This method has a tendency to hide from one's thought the knowledge that we have "a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration" (Science and Health, p. 259). Such methods would also encourage the belief that our work is to patch up the faulty mortal concept of man; whereas, our work is to realize the perfect man, who coexists with his creator and reflects only the good and beautiful.

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OUTLINING

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