Editorial July 3, 1954 Issue

ARE YOU A PERFECTIONIST?

Harold Molter

Are you a perfectionist? Jesus said (Matt. 5:48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This must become the aim of the Christian Scientist. The only way to reach this goal is through spiritual living, as exemplified in the career of Jesus. True perfectionism is expressed in spirituality and self-forgetfulness. It sees all creation as it really is—wholly spiritual, perfect, sinless. The individual achieves spiritual perfection by striving to assimilate and demonstrate increasingly each day the character of the Christ. He daily prays, as Jesus did (John 17:1), "Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee."

Now the so-called material perfectionist often speaks in terms of Spirit, but the basis of his action is human will—the very opposite of the divine will. The material perfectionist may utter the words of Truth, but he also sets up a human or material standard of perfection and expects all to live up to it. When they do not, he feels unhappy, or confused, or jealous, or sick. He will not cooperate with others, but expects all those around him to co-operate with him.

The Way-shower gave to mankind two great commandments which Mary Baker Eddy refers to as the demands of Soul. The first is that we should love Spirit above all else; the second, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. These commandments, spiritually understood, form the basis for establishing true perfectionism in human consciousness.

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