Article July 10, 1954 Issue

OUR PRIMARY CONCERN

JOSEPH GRAHAM HARRISON

A Striking refutation of the almost universal belief that man is born to devote his life and labor to material pursuits appears in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Here she states (pp. 517, 518): "Man is not made to till the soil. His birthright is dominion, not subjection." In thus affirming man's eternal and inviolable superiority to the fettering claims of a supposed material existence, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science was clearly directing mankind's attentions toward a higher sense of activity and accomplishment than is possible through mere human endeavor.

A clearer realization of this came to the writer during a period of preparation for an address to be given before an organization of Christian Science college students. He had been asked to speak on the topic, "How I use Christian Science in my work." However, as the work of preparation progressed, he felt an increasing necessity to broaden the subject of the address to give a more exact idea of the relationship between Christian Science and mankind's activity. For to think of Christian Science primarily as an adjunct or aid to human activity is to fail to understand both the meaning and the purpose of this Science.

Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 204), "By purifying human thought, this state of mind permeates with increased harmony all the minutiae of human affairs." While it is indeed vital that human affairs be influenced by the cleansing and elevating influence of Christian Science, and while it is of the utmost importance to make the fullest use of Science in every phase of one's normal human action, it is, however, absolutely essential never to forget that the implications of this Science are divine, not human, and that its ultimate purpose is to destroy the false belief of a mortal, material existence.

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