Article August 9, 1947 Issue

TRIUMPHING OVER TIMIDITY

LA RUE M. MURRAY

All who have wrestled with and through Christian Science obtained the victory over the enslaving beliefs of inferiority, timidity, self-consciousness, and constant fear of failure can appreciate the might and efficacy of the divine Mind in the overcoming of these weaknesses of the so-called human mind. They value the strength, joy, and freedom that such overcoming brings.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 483), "One must fulfil one's mission without timidity or dissimulation, for to be well done, the work must be done unselfishly." The realization and demonstration of the truth in these lines opened up a fuller and richer life for a young woman who, until she began the sincere study of Christian Science, had struggled long and unsuccessfully to master the claims of self-consciousness and timidity. So overwhelming seemed these arguments that whenever there appeared a possibility that it would be necessary to voice an opinion, even in a small group, she would hastily leave the room to avoid being called upon to speak.

However, as this student advanced in her study of the truths of Christian Science, she learned to claim and to utilize in a practical way the poise and stability which result from an unreserved acknowledgment of God's omnipotence and omnipresence and of man's right, privilege, and ability to express, through reflection, the divine power and dominion. The student also gained a truer sense of spiritual values, learned how to discriminate between the real and essential and the unreal and unessential; indeed, how to minimize error, or evil, to the point of extinction through the spiritual and wholly logical understanding that God did not make it, does not know it, and therefore His child could not honor its pretense to power and prestige. Step by step she gained dominion over the sense of limitation and frustration, and her desire to be active and useful is being realized in ever-increasing and more satisfying measure.

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