Article March 10, 1917 Issue

Impersonality

EVERETT EDGAR KING

Sooner or later every student of Christian Science comes to understand that both good and evil are impersonal. Good represents the harmonious action of divine Mind, while evil represents the discordant operation of mortal mind. Mankind may at times reflect good and at other times evil, but they do not at any time possess either. Jesus recognized the impersonality of good when he said to the rich man, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." On page 336 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says: "The spiritual man's consciousness and individuality are reflections of God. They are the emanations of Him who is Life, Truth, and Love." Scientifically speaking, we live in an atmosphere of love, of intelligence, and of action. Mind is everywhere around us, sustaining us at every point.

Likewise, the error which we seem to manifest does not belong to us and is no part of us, although it may seem to take possession of us at times as the wind does a paper on the street,—blowing us hither and thither at will. In his epistle to the Romans St. Paul says: "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." If we see those around us becoming disturbed, possibly angry or sick, we should at once understand that the cause of disturbance is as foreign to them as the wind is to the paper it is blowing. Error may come to us in one form one day and in another form another day, but it is always the same old serpent,—the same crafty impostor, beguiling while "seeking whom he may devour."

To one uninstructed in Christian Science this error seems to originate in and thus to become a product of his own thinking. Such a belief is a mistake; and so long as one is cherishing this belief, any attempt to free himself from error is well-nigh a failure. It is only by knowing that we are children of God, and as such can entertain and manifest only right thoughts and actions, that the thrusts of error lose their seeming effectiveness.

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