Article February 19, 1921 Issue

Outlining

NINA C. FRANKLIN

In the thirty-seventh psalm we read: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." One of the most subtle errors which seems to present itself to those who are striving to demonstrate the truth, in connection with every problem from the standpoint of Christian Science, is that of outlining. On page 1 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says, "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." On page 591 of the same book, under the definition of Mind, we find: "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."

When one is asked to treat a condition of disease, the practitioner may inadvertently form a mental picture of the seeming condition, and then outline the manner in which the condition will be overcome, as to whether it will disappear at once, or be gradually eliminated or dissolved. Having admitted the reality of the condition, and outlined how it is to be overcome, we expect divine Mind to heal the disease, as if infinite Mind would work merely according to our finite plans. On page 395 of Science and Health we find this: "It is mental quackery to make disease a reality—to hold it as something seen and felt—and then to attempt its cure through Mind. It is no less erroneous to believe in the real existence of a tumor, a cancer, or decayed lungs, while you argue against their reality, than it is for your patient to feel these ills in physical belief. Mental practice, which holds disease as a reality, fastens disease on the patient, and it may appear in a more alarming form."

If one desires to make a demonstration as to place, one cannot outline where he would like to be or thinks he should be and then expect divine Mind to put him in that place. Rather should we lift our thought in loving gratitude to God that man already has "every good gift and every perfect gift," because God's work is done, and it is perfect. Divine Love is not holding away from us something of good that we wish, tempting us with it, as one might hold a plaything before a child until he reached for it, and then snatch it away from him. It is the lust of mortal mind which tempts us. "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man," says the apostle James.

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