Article August 12, 1933 Issue

Knowing Man Aright

MABEL KNAPP HOLLIS

The student of Christian Science often finds his problem solved when he is able to see man as he really is, the image and likeness of God, perfect, upright, spiritual, and good. It is perhaps not a difficult task to know God as Love, Truth, Mind, but it often seems quite a different matter to realize that man, who is the image and likeness of Love and Truth, must be and is loving and truthful, without spot or blemish.

In the one hundred and first Psalm we read, "A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person." How joyous our days would be if with the start of each new day we too should declare, "I will not know a wicked person"! In the home, the schoolroom, or the busy office, there we can begin to put into practice this great rule of Christian Science. Sometimes we may be ever so willing to acknowledge that in reality man is beautiful and good, but actually to see and realize this truth so as to exclude from our daily lives the friction and inharmonies that seem to arise requires vastly more than mere willingness; for, as Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 322, 323), "Mortals may seek the understanding of Christian Science, but they will not be able to glean from Christian Science the facts of being without striving for them."

In striving to hold thought steadfastly to this great truth and know only God and man as created by Him, a student of Christian Science found herself struggling with a sense of condemnation of what seemed to be her futile efforts to demonstrate more of this truth in her daily life. In spite of the arguments of discouragement and failure, the battle went on until the student found that she was watching for errors to be overcome, rather than looking for and expecting the result of the right thinking she was so earnestly striving to maintain. Just at this particular point in her work the thought of Jesus' three days' work in the tomb proved to be of the greatest help. It was easy to realize that had Jesus dwelt upon the reason for his being there, or accepted the arguments of mortal mind about those who had brought about his crucifixion, his emergence from the tomb would have been delayed. He proved for all mankind that there is a way out of every difficulty which confronts us. With this revelation held to courageously, this student awakened to find that a problem which had been of rather long duration was quickly and in the most unexpected manner solved, so that not only was the student blessed, but a number of others also.

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