True Accomplishment

BURT K. FILER

Mankind suffers much from fear of failure,—failure of health, of business, of security, of life, of peace, of happiness,—forgetting, apparently, that Christ Jesus demonstrated conclusively the certainty of success in any right undertaking.

While our Saviour's teachings were accepted, and for approximately three hundred years after the close of his earthly career were practically applied by many, the ability to emulate his authority over material conditions and circumstances seemed to become obscured or lost in ritualism and creed.

The Master, who proved the dominion of good in human experience, disclaimed any personal aggrandizement. There is no equivocation in the statements, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do," and, "I can of mine own self do nothing;" nor is there any ambiguity in the wonderful promise, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."

It was not until nearly two thousand years later, however, that the faith, inspiration, and consecrated effort of a New England gentlewoman enabled her to comprehend Christ Jesus' words and works clearly enough to elucidate his method so that all may understand and practice it. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, carefully explains in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" the impersonal nature of the saving and healing agency employed by Christ Jesus and his followers; and she also makes it plain why and how it is again being utilized the world over by thousands of people. Christian Science acknowledges one God, one Mind, one real consciousness. In Science and Health our Leader writes (p. 473), "God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power." All true thoughts are of God, and are good. Therefore, mortal beliefs of fear, sickness, sorrow are mere negation, without origin, presence, power, or place.

It follows, then, that true accomplishment is measured by the degree in which we reflect God's thoughts, and depends on how well we exemplify kindly courtesy and unselfish service, on how successfully we live the love that "never faileth." Conversely, failure measures our indulgence in the belief that strength, intelligence, wisdom, law, and substance are external to God, the one Mind. Paul defines true accomplishment when he declares, "Charity never faileth."

Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 302), "It is impossible that man should lose aught that is real, when God is all and eternally his." There is no circumstance, no condition or belief, no combination of events in human experience, that can deprive us of what we need, or prevent our doing what we should do when we obediently and patiently acknowledge God as the one source of supply and of all true accomplishment. He gives us as His children abundantly all that we need, directing us in all our affairs, as we trust in Him; and He knows no failures or reverses.

In reality, the only business is actively to reflect God, and the only accomplishment is the expression of harmony, perfection, and completeness. Success in its true sense means the reflection of the activity of divine Mind; and it includes peace, joy, confidence. Was it not his understanding of this which prompted the loving assurance of our Saviour, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom"? When we remember that God is the Father of all, that He is impartial, giving all to each and all, we drop the restrictive belief in competition or rivalry as a necessary adjunct to business affairs.

Christ Jesus never failed, because he realized perfectly his at-one-ment with God, the all-inclusive creator of man and the universe. He knew himself to be the expression of the wisdom, intelligence, law, and dominion of our Father-Mother God, infinite Love, who is "no respecter of persons," who is at hand now as in Jesus' time to destroy every suggestion of failure, lack, or limitation.

God is All, and the real man is His image and likeness, reflecting all that is good. It necessarily follows that God is the source of supply. Any contradiction of this spiritual fact is but a false belief which claims intelligence as something apart from God. There is neither lack nor waste in the divine economy. God's thoughts are the substance or expression of infinite accomplishment; and as we rid our thinking of the belief of many minds and many influences, of self-will and mortal domination, we shall realize God's promise as expressed through Malachi, "I will ... open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

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