It has been well said that in order to be a success in any thing one must fully believe in one's self; but the belief in one's self requires also a full knowledge of one's self, and here it is well to consider the counsel of Paul when he wrote the Corinthians saying, "And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him." Mortal mind has so long endeavored to usurp the place of divine Mind, that, due to its own noise and clamor, it has come to believe itself to be something other than a mere negation or the supposititious opposite of true Mind, which Mrs. Eddy defines thus (Science and Health, p. 591): "Mind. The only I or Us; the only Spirit, Soul, divine Principle, substance, Life, Truth, Love; the one God; not that which is in man, but the divine Principle, or God, of whom man is the full and perfect expression; Deity, which outlines but is not outlined."

Out of this most subtle suggestion of more than one infinite and supreme power and that power, God, has grown that malignant weed, the belief in separation. It is quite evident to the physical senses, which constitute a part of mortal mind's horde of representatives, that a condition of division or separation is being continually manifested. These manifestations are innumerable and to be observed in all of the so-called kingdoms, the vegetable, mineral, and animal. That sense of division or separation, however, to which mankind seems the most sensitive is that manifestation which is ever occurring in his daily intercourse with his fellow men. Separation has become an occasion for regret, if not deep sorrow. However, thanks to the consecration of Mary Baker Eddy, a woman who had drunk deep of the material sense of separation and, through the clear and piercing light of divine intelligence, perceived the awful grotesqueness of mortal mind, mankind has been given the means whereby joy and activity are recognized as consciousness rather than sorrow. This means is a spiritual understanding of the Bible, gained through a study of Science and Health.

On page 501 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy haswritten, "Scientific interpretation of the Scriptures properly starts with the beginning of the Old Testament, chiefly because the spiritual import of the Word, in its earliest articulations, often seems so smothered by the immediate context as to require explication; whereas the New Testament narratives are clearer and come nearer the heart." It is a knowledge of God which dispels all dark illusions relative to any activity but constructive and harmonious activity, of God as divine Principle forming true earth and heaven and all living creatures, including man, whom he created in His own likeness, and continuing to be the loving, compassionate, and tender Father-Mother God. Activity which is real is the activity of God and is reflected by that which God created.

Those condition or things which are truly manifest are so manifested by God's creation, for God being infinite and All-in-all, there can be no other creation or manifestation of creation. God, who is infinite and supreme good, would not create and could not permit the manifestation of aught but that condition or things which is continually bearing witness to perfect harmony. An apparent manifestation of separation or division which could cause regret and sorrow and perpetuate the belief in another power or creator has no foundation for its existence. The belief that separation is the cause of that condition of sorrow or regret manifested upon the departure of a dear one, or because of a misunderstanding between person or peoples, is simply the result of believing in another power apart from God.

Christian Science has made it plain that inasmuch as God is infinite good and All-in-all, there can be no activity but right activity. It shows that while to the human senses there seems to be a condition of destruction and disintegration, what in reality is taking place is an opportunity for the manifestation of love, charity, and absolute faith in God, a faith which knows only good. True separation from the belief in evil, scientifically understood, means the manifestation of good in place of evil, of truth instead of error, and is exemplified in times of seeming trouble by the reflection of perfect confidence, strength, and courage. It is bearing witness to the truth that God created all and saw that it was good; that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him," an idea whose specific and only purpose is, through the reflection of love, courage, and strength, to establish the eternal fact that God is.

It is the carrying out of this divine purpose, as man eternally is, that causes all supposititious evidence to melt away into its native nothingness. No simpler method of attack could have been given for the destruction or obliteration of all evil than that given by Mrs. Eddy when she wrote, as we find on page 210 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany": "Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness."