Article January 11, 1941 Issue

True Self-Government

JEAN ELIZABETH THOMPSON

One erroneous phase of the human mind is the tendency to look for, cling to, and submit to personal leadership. To heal the difficulties resulting from such a state of thought, it is important to realize that it is the outcome of seeking and yielding to personal opinion in countless small ways, instead of relying on divine Principle. The only way to experience a more satisfactory expression of freedom is to be individually self-governed under divine Mind. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mary Baker Eddy has stated (p. 20): "We have no moral right and no authority in Christian Science for influencing the thoughts of others, except it be to serve God and benefit mankind. Man is properly self-governed, and he should he guided by no other mind than Truth, the divine Mind."

The acceptance of undue personal guidance is based on the assumption that certain persons are sufficiently intelligent to manage the affairs of others more successfully than they can themselves. From a limited personal standpoint, this may sometimes appear to be so, but the results of following such a policy are unfortunate, both for those who would assume the responsibility of directing the actions of others and for those who would submit to such direction. Those attempting to control others become excessively burdened, and those following their guidance become, or remain, dissatisfied.

The only practical and permanent solution for the problems to which such a misconception of government gives rise is found in the fundamental teaching of Christian Science that the one Mind governs all, and man reflects God, divine Mind. It is obvious, therefore, that to consider oneself personally superior or inferior to anyone else is not to have the right concept of man as the manifestation of Mind. To one who has accepted the suggestion that he is personally responsible for another, the realization that God governs and sustains man brings relief; while for one who has accepted the suggestion that he is dependent upon another for direction and support, the recognition of God's government establishes the security of divine guidance. The perception that God governs all does not mean that one should be indifferent to or neglectful of the welfare of others, but that in acknowledging this spiritual fact a higher and more helpful concept of true relationship is gained. The more clearly one understands that Mind governs, the more truly is one self-governed, and the less likely one is to attempt to influence or control the actions of others. Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 353): "Some people try to tend folks, as if they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes us pay for tending the action that He adjusts."

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