Article October 11, 1919 Issue

Daydreams

CHRISTINE WONDERLY

Sometimes one of the most subtle obstacles to steady growth and fuller unfoldment in Christian Science is the tendency of the human mind to indulge in daydreams. The desire which seeks satisfaction in daydreams always proceeds from a sense of lack, and is a false sense of desire,—a longing for something one does not seem to have; whereas the truth is that God has given to His child all good, everything needed for his happiness and health, and there is no power which can prevent his bringing these very good works of God into full expression.

A daydream may be defined as "a delusional experience, as of unsubstantial happiness or unfounded hope," and the word delusion we find defined as "false belief, or a persistent error of perception occasioned by false belief." It is therefore very easy to see that anything proceeding from such a basis, and perhaps fostered by self-will, self-love, or self-pity, is by no means the harmless pastime it might appear on the surface. Not only are minutely planned schemes or designs, or extravagant fancies daydreams, but any human planning or outlining which implies an absence of the very good works of God and the visible evidence thereof, is an offspring of this false sense.

On page 1 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy has written: "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." The true sense, then, of desire really means bringing into expression that which we already have, and the molding and exalting by divine unfoldment will destroy everything which savors of materiality and will reveal in place thereof the abundance, goodness, and greatness which are of God and like God, and these properties of infinite Love, blossoming forth into outward manifestation, completely satisfy all that seems to need satisfying, and never fail to bless all in blessing one. Then the only reason one could have for indulging in daydreams would be ignorance of their nature, or the willful cherishing of some human desire which he is unwilling to measure by Principle.

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