Article May 18, 1957 Issue

DO WE EXCISE OR EXCUSE ERROR?

MARJORIE D. MANLEY

Christ Jesus said (Matt. 5:8), "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Actually there are no degrees of purity, for purity is absolute. All contamination must be removed and all adulteration avoided to achieve purity. It is encouraging to find in the teachings of Christian Science an explanation of the nature of the purity of heart commended by the Master and of the steps leading to its attainment and thus to a better understanding of God.

Self-knowledge is the first step. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 462): "Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to discover their quality, quantity, and origin. Are thoughts divine or human? That is the important question. This branch of study is indispensable to the excision of error. The anatomy of Christian Science teaches when and how to probe the self-inflicted wounds of selfishness, malice, envy, and hate. It teaches the control of mad ambition. It unfolds the hallowed influences of unselfishness, philanthropy, spiritual love."

Surely each of us is in a position to delve deep into his own thoughts to examine their quality and to eliminate whatever seems unworthy. The temptation may come to gloss over faults, to rationalize, or to justify them on the grounds of widespread custom or the opinion of others. But reluctance to curb selfish impulses can be counteracted by an honest desire to "see God."

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