Improved Convictions

Though mortal mind avers that a position is difficult to surrender when one has long taken a certain stand, yet the giving up of false convictions is really pleasant, and the longer the old conviction has been adhered to the more joy should be experienced when it is changed for a better one. Where two persons seem to be on opposite ground, oftentimes it is a misunderstanding of each other's attitude which is the basis of disagreement. Perhaps both are mistaken and a common movement toward the truth will bring them together.

Usually, however, where diametrically opposed convictions are held, at least one side must be wrong, and those who hold to error must eventually be forced to change by the progress of enlightenment. Resistance to this necessary change often results in suffering, dissension, and division. But one who at the first intimation from Truth whispered into consciousness is ready always to give up his stand and to take a better one, is in a safe position; and this is a scientific attitude. One who holds it need not fear that he will be called upon to surrender any convictions which are actually based upon God, or Principle. The difficulty in abandoning a false conclusion may sometimes come from a phase of egotism creating a belief of a petty selfhood which will be put to shame if it yields to other petty selfhoods, above which it has been trying to rise. The sure cure for this error is to realize that the belief of many minds is a delusion. All of those petty so-called minds are but delusions, because there is but one Mind, even God.

Much difficulty can be avoided for one's self and others by maintaining a teachable attitude and by being ready to take a still better stand as further light comes. For example, the exchange of views on church and other problems is often valuable if it is done in the right spirit, namely, with a desire to give and take—to learn of one's own errors as well as to share with others the good that has unfolded. It may be worth while to observe that an opinion can be said to belong to the one who holds it, but the truth is equally the possession of all who are receptive to and accept it. Hence, one who abandons a mistaken opinion is free to accept the truth where formerly he had held to an error. All workers in Christian Science know that their progress can be measured, at least in part, by the number of false positions they have abandoned in favor of better ones.

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All-powerful Goodness, Powerless Evil
July 29, 1933
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