Article December 13, 1924 Issue

Overcoming Self

DELLA M. WHITNEY

Our greatest foe is the false belief that man has a mind apart from God; from which arises the belief that he has a self which lives and is able to move and act apart from God, a self which is material and which is cognizant of both good and evil. Regardless of Paul's declaration, "In him we live, and move, and have our being," men continue to be dominated by the false belief that they live in matter.

Discords of every nature are allied to this belief in a material selfhood. As the false concept of material man is replaced in our thinking by the understanding of the real or spiritual man, material ills disappear, and joy, peace, and health, which are man's heritage, are made manifest. It can be proved by every one that the moment thought is removed from the body and allowed to dwell on spiritual reality, that moment regeneration begins. We do not have to wait until we have gained a great measure of spiritual understanding to begin to experience harmony. Harmony begins to be made manifest whenever the material is given up and the spiritual accepted. The results of material thinking are sin and sickness; while the results of spiritual thinking are joy, health, and harmony. When we are reflecting divine Mind by thinking spiritual thoughts, there is nothing in our consciousness that responds to evil or discord.

Man's spiritual selfhood is symbolized by light, and the belief in a human, mortal self by darkness. This light is spoken of in John's gospel as "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." This light or intelligence is purely spiritual, and is man's divine birthright, which must be recognized and claimed if one is to be lifted out of the darkness of material beliefs. If a home were supplied with myriad lights, but none of them were used, that home would remain in darkness. So it is with our mental home, our consciousness: the light which is ours must be used to destroy the darkness.

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