Editorial March 8, 1930 Issue

Putting Off Limitations

Clifford P. Smith

Absolutely speaking, error has no beginning, no origin, because it is not real. Examined in another way, error can be traced to its primary forms, and this tracing may help to expose error's illusions. Most of these primary forms, if not all of them, are shown by the definition of "serpent" on page 594 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Among them is one distinct from the others as "the first lie of limitation." This incipient error is extremely important, because it seems to have given its character to all that is human or mortal. Everything that is human is limited. This characteristic of so-called human nature is its particular quality, its peculiar property.

We can say, therefore, that the most fundamental of all human needs is to get rid of limitations. The first need of human life is more of the infinite Life. The Saviour of men must have seen our plight in this way, for he said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Indeed, as this saying is rendered by modern translators, he implied no limit to human ascension and expansion; he said, "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (American Revised Version). So, to follow his course, we must continually put off human limitations and put on the infinite possibilities.

What is the most effective help for this purpose? The direct remedy for belief in limits is "that which is never unconscious nor limited," that is, "intelligence" (Science and Health, p. 588). To be saved from limits of every sort, we must cultivate the assistance and control of divine intelligence. This is the key to unlimited possibilities, the door to unrestricted progress. Intelligence derived from the divine source is the first aid for ascension, the means of complete salvation.

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