Article November 28, 1914 Issue

Cleaning Our Own Windows

SARAH E. COX

When I first came into Christian Science I was told that I had to cast evil out of my own consciousness and I should then see others in a better light; that I must not only try to see myself as God's idea, but must so see every one. I could not understand how my better thinking was going to make others better; and when the actions of other people disturbed me, I did not like to be told by a Scientist that the difficulty was in my own consciousness and that I had to cast it out. I used to be quite annoyed and could not see it at all, until one day I suddenly remembered an incident which had occurred some time before I knew of Christian Science.

Standing in my kitchen one morning and glancing through the window, I saw the sun shining on the windows of the house next door, and noticed how dirty they looked. Impatient with the fact, I said that I thought they should keep the windows cleaner, for they were not nice to look at. In the afternoon of the same day I was again standing in the same place near my kitchen window, and as I looked up I saw that my neighbor's windows were quite clean and bright. Now I knew there was no one at home, and was quite sure that no one had been in the house all that day, so I wondered at the changed appearance of the windows. Then I remembered that my own window had been cleaned since the morning, and this had made all the difference.

I laughed at myself, knowing that I had learned a lesson, but how useful it might prove I did not then realize. When the incident was recalled, it helped me to see that when the dust is removed from my own consciousness I get clearer views and may possibly discover that the thought of others is quite clean. When I am freed from all that is discordant, I shall have a truer understanding and be able to see others in the light of Truth.

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