Editorial July 15, 1944 Issue

Sincerity Courageous

Evelyn F. Heywood

How often does the individual in writing a letter affix his name to the words, "Yours sincerely," without considering their implication! Yet they have the endorsement of his signature. It must be that when they are lightly regarded it is because they have become a mere formula.

Nothing, in actual fact, is more important to ourselves and in our dealings with others than sincerity. No permanence, no beauty of relationship, no worthy achievement, is won without it. On page 1 of her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 by Mary Baker Eddy we read: "All that is true is a sort of necessity, a portion of the primal reality of things. Truth comes from a deep sincerity that must always characterize heroic hearts." We do well to note the word "heroic," for it reminds us that sincerity demands courage. It calls for an honesty of purpose which indulges in no dissimulation, shares in no hypocrisy or misrepresentation; which is primarily concerned not with its own advantage but with the truth.

It has been wisely written that "sincerity is impossible, unless it pervade the whole being, and the pretense of it saps the very foundation of character." How alertly we need to watch, how searchingly to pray that "yours sincerely" may be our attitude to everyone with whom we come into contact along our way. This does not demand of us that we impose imprudently and uninvited our views upon others, for this is sure evidence of human will and self-assertion. But it does demand of us that neither by word, nor even in the nuances of manner or inflection, we permit ourselves to be used in the interests of insincerity, of prevarication and deception.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Sincerity Courageous

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access