Article April 3, 1954 Issue

SPIRITUAL POISE

MIRIAM BECKHOFF DAMSGAARD

In human experience poise is subject to various interpretations. If asked to define poise, an executive might give imperturbability and calmness under pressure as synonyms. Ease of manner and composure in front of a group might be the answer of a public speaker. A young woman might define it as sophistication, which to her would be evidence of self-control.

Each of these three would have glimpsed something of the true nature of poise, since imperturbability, composure, and self-control are included in it. However, considered in the light of Christian Science, poise transcends any interpretation based on human opinion and experience. That the source of true poise is in God is set forth in Isaiah where the prophet speaks of Him as the one "who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance" (40:12). He added, "He is strong in power; not one faileth."

In a correlative passage in the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy states (p. 124): "Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are properties of Mind. They belong to divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought-force, which launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, 'Thus far and no farther.'"

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