Editorial August 24, 1929 Issue

The Genius of Christian Science

Albert F. Gilmore

With her accustomed lucidity of expression, on page 365 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy in a single sentence sets forth the genius of Christian Science. In stating the necessity of proving the utility and goodness of Christian Science through demonstration, she writes, "Its genius is right thinking and right acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of its success lies in supplying the universal need of better health and better men."

It is through "right thinking and right acting" that moral and physical harmony is gained. Manifestly, then, right thinking is the prerequisite in order to grasp the significance of this Science; and, thinking rightly, one's acts will conform with the demands of divine Principle. What is right thinking? is the question which must first be considered; and Christian Science answers it in full. Since God, Mind, and His manifestation in perfect ideas constitute all reality, thought to be right, that is, to deal with reality, must conform to the divine. Only that which reflects the divine consciousness can be adjudged as right thinking. Thought which reflects the divine holds strictly to spiritual reality, to the facts of being: that man as God's likeness is spiritual and perfect, and that the universe, consisting of spiritual ideas, is likewise perfect. How completely does this exclude thought which holds man to be material, as "born of a woman . . of few days, and full of trouble" I Thought to be right, then, must hold to the spiritual truth of man, to the eternal facts of being. Now, since our Leader assures us that right acting is consequent only upon right thinking, when man is conceived of in his perfect state, acting in conformity with divine law, that is, when we see our true selves as the children of God, our acts also will be in harmony with divine law—will conform with the standard of right thinking. Then will the promised results follow—physical and moral harmony, which ultimates in better health and better men. The genius of Christian Science is thus manifested in the demonstration of Christianly living, the living experienced when Truth and Love become the guiding influence in our lives.

Christian Scientists strive to conform their lives to the divine standard in every particular. They know that if obedience be only partial, the results will be unsatisfactory. A mentality still possessed of some unhealed area, that is, which still holds in some measure to material beliefs, is not the best transparency for Truth. Its reflection will be somewhat distorted, and unlovely. How truly has our Leader written in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 295), "The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality—much error—in order to become a better transparency for Truth."

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