Article September 1, 1945 Issue

The Goal and the Starting Point

WILLIAM M. SELLMAN

Perfection is both the goal and the starting point in Christian Science. The student of this Science, humanly speaking, works up to perfection by basing his thinking on perfection, scientifically considered. Perceiving that his real, spiritual selfhood—the image of God, Spirit—is already perfect, the student naturally desires to take, as rapidly as possible, the human footsteps leading to his complete demonstration of this grand fact. Thus he constantly strives, through improved thought, speech, and action, to advance toward his goal. He sees how inevitable is the great truth so concisely stated by Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 290), "Perfection is gained only by perfection."

The pursuit of perfection, no less than the pursuit of happiness, engages the attention of many mortals. No one is really happy except in the expression, in some degree, of perfection; and no one can be perfect unless he is happy. To be genuinely happy is a legitimate goal.

Perfection is spiritual. It is the essential nature of creative Mind; it is inherent in harmony, goodness, beauty, joy, completeness. The absolute perfectness of the divine creation is hinted by the human mind's striving for what it terms perfection in art, invention, speech, sports, and many of its other activities. But the goal of true perfection is never achieved in matter. A sincere desire to reach this goal must ultimate in the lifting of thought above material things to spiritual ideas, for even the best and most beautiful or useful material things are but symbols of the perfect and real.

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