Article May 24, 1913 Issue

VALUE OF A RIGHT MOTIVE

MARY STEWART.

There is a tendency among mortals to be easily satisfied with their own efforts; satisfied to have tried to do well; contented in a self-complacent fashion with the fact that they meant well, that they had only the best of motives or purposes. The teaching of the Scriptures, as explained in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, while frequently commending right motives, and indeed making them a foundational necessity for right action, seems, however, to demand much more than rightness of purpose, and never concedes that the right motive alone is sufficient to insure correct procedure.

For achievement in any line, thought must be put into action, prayer be expressed in work, and knowing be coupled with doing. As the result of his suffering for wrong done and his learning to value good, there sprang up in the heart of the prodigal a sincere purpose to retrace his way and be again in a condition of obedience to his father; but not until he "arose, and came to his father," was he freed from his self-imposed bondage and restored to his own place of usefulness and happiness. A true motive is but the startingpoint, and it must be accompanied by faithful, persistent work and prayer in order to maintain the purity of the motive, excluding all selfishness, personal ambition, and worldly desire. These activities bring one to the threshold of the way which divine Mind will open for further advancement.

Merely to have and maintain a right motive, does not authorize us to entertain a sense that we have done our part, or give us grounds for expecting great reward or for using the argument of right motive to excuse mistakes or inactivity. Much remains to be done before the time of harvest. Even the best conditions and qualities of human consciousness need improvement and purification before they actually reflect the divine. So what appears to our human sense to be a right motive may be found to include much that is mere belief, and may need a thorough renovating before it becomes reliable. A sincere desire may be a mistaken one; an earnest purpose may be misled by ignorance, superstition, or selfishness. One who starts with a truly right motive may, if off guard, wander as far from the Christ-way as one who is ignorant of the right or indifferent to it.

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