Article March 4, 1916 Issue

In "A. J. B.'s" letter to The Shetland Times he charges me...

E. M. Ramsay—Lerwick, Shetland Isles

The Shetland Times

In "A. J. B.'s" letter to The Shetland Times he charges me with leaving troublesome problems alone, and with saying "peace, peace," where there is no peace. This is very far from being my intention or wish, but I would point out that in taking up a new study he makes the best progress who is content to begin at the beginning and leave the more advanced parts of the subject till he has grown in understanding.

In order to gain confidence in the power of unseen truth, one must begin to apply it to the overcoming of evil in his own consciousness. Let us suppose that a man appears to suffer from the bigotry and intolerance of another. How is this to be dealt with in Christian Science? We must first separate these supposed evil qualities from man by recognizing that since they are not to be found in the nature of God, they cannot form any real part of His image and likeness, the real man, the only man. We have thus to deal, not with a bigot but with bigotry, not with an intolerant man but with intolerance. In this way we have resolved things into thoughts, and are thus able to deal with them mentally.

Having got to this point, we begin to examine our own hearts to see if we are harboring there anything of bigotry and intolerance ourselves, for if this be the case, we must cast this beam out of our own eye before we can go farther. What means, what instrument, can we employ for this operation? What can cast out an evil thought? The true idea, which shows the unreality of the special evil thought with which we are concerned. Bigotry and intolerance are the outcome of a false conception of God's nature, as Science and Health shows us: "Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse" (p. 94). In order, then, to get rid of a false conception of God, we must turn to the true conception as given in the New Testament. We dwell on what we there learn of His nature, and on the thought of Love, Spirit, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," the Father, the very source of life and blessedness, destroying evil "with the brightness of his coming," as we read in II Thessalonians.

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