Editorial August 1, 1964 Issue

Our Thinking Determines Our Experience

Ralph E. Wagers

It is generally believed that what we experience determines what we think, but Christian Science teaches that our thinking determines our experience. For instance, wicked thoughts result in wicked acts; fearful thoughts often make one vulnerable to harm; lustful thoughts express themselves in sensual lives; hateful thoughts are apt to cause one to react violently to situations. Because of the thought-and-act relationship, a correction of thought brings about an improvement in action, and this has its effect upon our experience.

Thought has a greater effect upon the body than is generally recognized, although more attention is being directed to this subject all the time. When we think of our bodies as useful servants, we assume a normal control over them, as is brought out by this statement of Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 208): "A material body only expresses a material and mortal mind. A mortal man possesses this body, and he makes it harmonious or discordant according to the images of thought impressed upon it."

Our consciousness is much like a field in which crops are grown. The better the cultivation, the better the crops. But farmers are well aware of the care that must be taken in the selection of seed. The familiar and oft-repeated parable of the tares and wheat in the Bible has application to our thinking and alerts us to the need of holding guard over the thoughts we accept (see Matt. 13: 24—30).

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