Article May 2, 1953 Issue

ACHIEVING TRUE EXCELLENCE

WILLIAM AUBERT LUCE

Recognizing divine Mind as the only true source of perfection, the Psalmist sang (Ps. 8:1), "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" True excellence is a quality of God. God, Mind, imparts perfection, infinite beauty, goodness, and greatness, and man, by reason of his inseparable relationship to his Father-Mother God, reflects the excellency of Mind. In the Science of being there is no inadequate expression or undeveloped activity. For the real man, the only man, there is no imperfection or deficiency. God's excellence is complete and harmonious, and man expresses this perfection. He recognizes the unceasing activity of divine Mind expressing itself in infinite manifestation, the eternal enterprise of perfect Love claiming and encompassing its own.

The Christian Scientist accepts Mind's impeccable ideal, or Christ, as the real identity of himself and of his neighbor. He strives to prove this vital truth in his own experience by overcoming all discordant conditions with a right understanding of the perfection of God and of His reflection, man. He realizes that his application of the teachings of Christian Science must be constant, whether he is at home, in school, in church, or at his place of business. He knows that his achievement of excellence in any constructive and worth-while human activity must be the visible outcome, not of selfish ambition and stubborn self-will, but of a prior spiritual achievement, a clearer focus on true spiritual values. The Christian Scientist protects himself from the false suggestion that his ability to excel is a personal virtue, inherited or developed by means of a material process. In the words of our Master he says (John 5: 19), "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."

A consistent and intelligent practice of these truths is highly important in achieving a recognition of true perfection. A daily practical utilization of God's law of excellence will lift thought and activity above the commonness and futility of mere human striving and lend dignity and purpose to endeavor. Mary Baker Eddy says in "The People's Idea of God" (p. 7): "We are all sculptors, working out our own ideals, and leaving the impress of mind on the body as well as on history and marble, chiselling to higher excellence, or leaving to rot and ruin the mind's ideals. Recognizing this as we ought, we shall turn often from marble to model, from matter to Mind, to beautify and exalt our lives."

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