Editorial May 18, 1946 Issue

Science Knows No Substitute

Margaret Morrison

Mankind today seems to be going through what might be called a substitutional period. In many countries the things considered necessary for the maintenance of life, for its nourishment, health, and comfort, have been replaced by inferior substitutes: unnourishing food, makeshift clothing, and inadequate shelter. And we hear on all sides complaints of perishable, shoddy substitutes for that which is of fine and lasting quality. Is not this phase of the human dream but an expression of the mental substitute of error for Truth, matter for Spirit, as the basis of thinking and living? On page 21 of her book "No and Yes" Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Human philosophy would dethrone perfection, and substitute matter and evil for divine means and ends." May not this be true also of the religion and so-called science of the human mind?

There should be no submission to or satisfaction with this substitution of matter for Spirit, of inferiority for perfection. There should be a vigorous and intelligent protest against such substitution, made from the standpoint of revealed divine Science, which makes clear the presence and power of one Mind, for which there is no substitute. One should be as quick to detect and refuse substitute living offered by the material senses as he would be to detect, and refuse shoddy, substitute material goods offered in place of the real article. The prophet Jeremiah called the attention of the people of his time to this substitution when he said: "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit."

In the suppositional realm of the human mind it may be argued that one is obliged to accept substitutes because the original is unobtainable; it has either been exhausted or is being hoarded by greed and avarice for personal benefit. This can never be said of original living and the truly good things of life, because Life is God, Spirit, and all true good is spiritual, inexhaustible, and instantly available to all who with a pure heart desire that which is good and true and beautiful. The substitute for Principle offered by personal sense always partakes of the nature of personal sense. It is inferior, perishable, unsatisfying.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors