Article April 29, 1922 Issue

Thoughts

FRANCES MACK MANN

The psalmist prayed, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." Not only the words of the mouth need to be carefully looked after, but also the meditation of the heart—the thoughts, the picture-thoughts, that tempt us to dewll overmuch on the past or on the future. There must be, as Paul declared, a casting down of "imaginations, and every hight thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God." One is making headway in spiritual growth when he has learned to control his imagination. He can then fix his thought on present work, and exclude the vagaries that would sweep through and confuse him.

Before one comes into an understanding of Christian Science, he does not think much about what he is thinking. Only in a general way he tries to have pure thoughts. Nor does he weigh particularly the words he speaks or the words to which he listens. Through hearing and reading he receives a vast amount of discordant thought that will have to be cast out before he can regain his peace of mind. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, our Leader writes (p. 462): "Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to discover their quality, quantity, and origin. Are thoughts divine or human? That is the important question."

When one begins to classify his thoughts, to receive the good and to cast away the evil, he closes the door to flattery, which may make him think that he of himself can do something; to irritation, which recognizes some power besides God; to earthly longing, which keeps his thought on matter instead of on Spirit. He gains control over his thoughts, so that when he wants to study he is able to keep on the subject; and when he wants to give a Christian Science treatment his thought does not wander. Each day, each hour, one walks after his own thoughts.

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