Article May 26, 1945 Issue

Mental Pictures

ELIZABETH JEAN SHARTS

A Painting is the delineation of the artist's thought on canvas. If the artist's thought is imbued with freshness, originality, and beauty, these qualities characterize his work; but it these qualities are lacking, the picture is usually inferior and uninteresting. Through the awakening to spiritual realities that Christian Science brings, many are coming to see that each one of us is an artist to a certain degree, for the quality of mental pictures which one entertains hour by hour determines his character, his countenance, his health, his happiness, in fact, his very life.

The method for gaining and holding these right mental concepts is set forth by Mary Baker Eddy. In our textbook. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 264), she says. "The crude creations of mortal thought must finally give place to the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the camera of divine Mind, when the mental picture is spiritual and eternal." And she continues: "Mortals must look beyond fading, finite forms, if they would gain the true sense of things. Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearchable realm of Mind?" As we allow our gaze to rest "in the unsearchable realm of Mind." we find that false mental pictures of failure, sin, disease, and death inevitably fade from consciousness, and are step by step replaced by the radiant image of our perfect selfhood, constituted and controlled by God.

That mortals throughout all time have had to extirpate disheartening and even terrifying thoughts is confirmed by the story of the children of Israel. The Bible tells us that they fell into serious trouble, so serious, in fact, that they were slaves to the Egyptians for over four hundred years.

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