Originality

FLORENCE IRENE GUBBINS

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, on page 286, we read that "physical causation was put aside from first to last by this original man, Jesus." And on page 126 of the same book, in a paragraph whose marginal heading is "A lack of originality," we read that "human thought never projected the least portion of true being," but that it "has sought and interpreted in its own way the echo of Spirit."

The word "original" is defined in Webster's Dictionary, in part, as "that which is not copied, imitated, or translated: underived, first-hand." Therefore, to be original is to be the very opposite of all that is characteristic of mortal mind. From this standpoint, we can say that a lack of originality is a lack of divinity. Sameness, monotony, lack of initiative, all denote absence of Mind; and since Mind, God, is omnipresent, they cannot be actual or real. And so it is for us to affirm the presence of Mind, showing itself in continuous unfoldment, spontaneity, and a wealth and variety of ideas just where these seem to be most lacking; for the one Mind is expressed only in that which is like itself.

Mortals are usually afraid of originality, particularly those among them whose thoughts are regulated by an outward code that is not as yet written on the heart. Originality to them savors of unorthodoxy and even lawlessness, a divergence from right. But it was the Master's supreme obedience to the law of spiritual being that made him the most original man on earth. Since there is only one Mind, originality can only be the expression of the one Mind; and no idea can operate in such a way as to harm or interfere with another, for each and every idea, in its very diversity, expresses the one infinite divine Being.

In Science and Health (p. 263) we read that "mortals are egotists. They believe themselves to be independent workers, personal authors, and even privileged originators of something which Deity would not or could not create." This false sense of originality is based on the belief of an origin apart from God, or Spirit, and is the foundation of all discord, as our textbook tells us. (See Science and Health, p. 262.) One is truly original only when his thinking is based on his understanding of the divine Principle, God, when his every thought comes from the divine Mind.

Evil suggestions are nullified by the individual who maintains the truth of his God-given originality in thought, word, and deed; who knows himself to be self-governed, because governed by divine Principle. Such a one does not follow the unoriginal suggestions of animal magnetism—error—misinterpreting the echo of Spirit, nor does he succumb to the mass mesmerism of world beliefs or take on a phase of other people's thinking as his own. The Christian Scientist knows himself to be the expression of positive Spirit, which is the source of dominion and intelligence, and that he cannot be caught in a wave of racial or national hatred, since he knows man to be the witness to his divine origin, Love, the only real consciousness. Thus, right where he is thinking, the waves of error are stayed and destroyed, and so go no farther afield to continue their deceptions. Knowing that man's origin is Spirit, and not the flesh, he is able to pray the prayer of the Master, "Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

Set habits of thought denote the absence of inspiration and revelation; and so, to express more of the ever-unfolding ideas of divine Mind, we need daily to renew our awareness of unity with the source of all ideas, and to watch that we do not settle down into a groove of lifeless formulas. We need constantly to expect fresh baptisms and new awakenings. Spiritual understanding of God is not a static condition of thought, but that which goes on expanding and unfolding. A living thing is a growing thing. Jesus' understanding of true being went on unfolding until it took him beyond the vision of mortals. So will our understanding of God, Truth, take us step by step nearer the light until we are wholly awake in His likeness. Then we cannot rest content with the partial view we have already obtained of reality, or with adopting other people's vision as our own, for an empirical vision will not win heaven for us. That is attained only through our own individual apprehension of the truth. This is surely the narrow way—room for only one to pass through. We must find God in the secret place of our own consciousness.

Originality of thought and expression can scientifically be attained only through the cultivation of spiritual under standing, by learning to rely on divine guidance, not on the personal counsel of others, and by keeping our consciousness in a state of receptivity and expectancy. This involves the necessity of never accepting the monotony of material routine as a part of real existence, and of rejecting the appearance of anything that would detract from the character of divine Mind as Love.

This divine Mind is saying to all of us all of the time, "Behold, I make all things new." Thus, in the kingdom of heaven, staleness and unprofitableness are unknown; for thought at one with God rejoices in the glad recognition that all true experiences are fresh from the hand of God, alive with His life, glowing and radiant with His love.

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"Perfection of living"

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