Article November 14, 1953 Issue

EFFECTS OF ENRICHING OUR PERFORMANCE

FRANCES STEVENS WESTON

Those, seeking successful careers in the dramatic field will do well to look to God, Soul, the source of talent, for the enrichment of their performances. In the degree that the performer expresses God-derived qualities, such as intelligence, skill, radiance, and vivacity, he is laying a foundation for successful accomplishment.

It is interesting to note that a dictionary defines "talent," in part, as "natural endowments;—thought of as a divine trust." In the same dictionary the definition of "ability" reads in part, "power to perform," and "art" is defined as "skill in performance, acquired by experience, study, or observation." The student of Christian Science, following a career in the arts, knows that God is the source of his "natural endowments" as well as of his "power to perform." He learns from the Bible that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). And he remembers Mary Baker Eddy's admonition (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 6), "The talents He gives we must improve."

The Christ, Truth, coming to individual consciousness, purifying human thought, refines the minutiae of our lives and touches every aspect of our careers. In "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says (p. 204): "The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Truth cleansing from all sin; giving mortals new motives, new purposes, new affections, all pointing upward." And farther on she adds: "By purifying human thought, this state of mind permeates with increased harmony all the minutiae of human affairs. It brings with it wonderful foresight, wisdom, and power; it unselfs the mortal purpose, gives steadiness to resolve, and success to endeavor. Through the accession of spirituality, God, the divine Principle of Christian Science, literally governs the aims, ambition, and acts of the Scientist."

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