A student of Christian Science struggling with nervous tension and a great sense of pressure sought help through prayer. The Christian Science practitioner saw that it was not material nerves which were causing the difficulty; it was a false sense of self striving for mortal perfection that was pressing the student. She further pointed out that anxiety about one's own performance may sometimes press one with thoughts of pride and explained that pressure goes as one reflects God in thought and action and as one forgets self.

Awakened to the need of self-forgetfulness, the student began to replace erroneous self-thinking with Godlike thoughts, and the acuteness of the condition was met. From that time on, she has endeavored to remember that her reason for being is to express God, not to impress mortals with her own abilities and capabilities. As a result of this improved thinking she has gained much freedom and has been able to serve in ways that she could never have done before.

Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (pp. 308, 309), "I earnestly advise all Christian Scientists to remove from their observation or study the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or evil." A personal sense of oneself or of one's fellow men is not the way to know the man of God's creating. Through the relinquishment of the belief in a false material self, with its fears and limitations, one is able to grasp the spiritual truth of man, made in the image and likeness of God. Then one can recognize, but not personalize, the good that is individually expressed. In his thinking one can make nothing of that which does not express God.

Our lives should be patterned after the teachings of the great Way-shower, Christ Jesus, who acknowledged no selfhood apart from God and took no personal credit for all that he accomplished. He knew that he did his great works by virtue of his reflection of God. He taught, "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" (John 5:19). Only as we express God in nature and character can we do the works of the Father.

God does not struggle to be God. He has no need or desire for the mere approval of men. God is All-in-all. Hence all there is to be, God already is; all there is to have, God already has; all there is to do, God already has done. In the first chapter of Genesis we read: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Then as God's image, man is already endowed with all good—without measure. This truth is made evident to us in our human experience through the expression of spiritual ideas and qualities.

In her book "Unity of Good," Mrs. Eddy sets forth the spiritual concept of man as individual consciousness. She writes (p. 24): "All consciousness is Mind; and Mind is God,—an infinite, and not a finite consciousness. This consciousness is reflected in individual consciousness, or man, whose source is infinite Mind." We need to establish in thought this spiritual fact of man and claim for ourselves our true identity as individualized spiritual consciousness possessing all the qualities of divine Mind.

In reality one spiritual quality is not more difficult to express than another. Most of us never feel any necessity to be anxious about the honesty we express in a day. We think of ourselves as actually honest; therefore, naturally we express honesty. To the degree that we understand man's true nature as revealed in Christian Science and recognize that in reality we reflect every quality of God, we shall become aware of the grandeur of our spiritual being.

All of us who have had moments of self-surrender know the joyous satisfaction these glimpses bring. Truly we can say with the Psalmist (Ps. 17:15), "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Losing sight of mortal selfhood and awakening to completeness in God, one is liberated from the frustrations and hurts generated by human will; the torments of jealousy and envy are dispelled; and the pride and disappointment of human accomplishment are eliminated.

Mrs. Eddy ask, "Does a single bosom burn for fame and power?" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 145.) And continuing she says: " Then when that person shall possess these, let him ask himself, and answer to his name in this cornerstone of our temple: Am I greater for them? And if he thinks that he is, then is he less than man to whom God gave 'dominion over all the earth,' less than the meek who 'inherit the earth.' "'

The desire for prestige is a concomitant of the carnal mind, and in some degree all of us have work to do to silence this desire. Christian Science teaches us to do this work through the knowledge that man was never born into matter, never filled with material wants or carnal inclinations.

As we learn to hold thought steadfastly to our spiritual sonship with God, we gain freedom from pride, personal ambition, and self-aggrandizement. Day by day we strive to demonstrate more of the nature and character of the Christ. We learn to pray as our Master did (John 17:1), "Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee."