Rising "to the inspirational"

NATHAN A. TALBOT

It is generally agreed that there are two essential ingredients of high academic standing. From various sources of information, including lectures, outlines, books, and notes, one must understand the fundamentals involved. Then he must gather and store a large reservoir of human knowledge. Basically he utilizes two faculties: understanding and memory. For centuries mankind have believed these faculties to be a function of the brain. This concept has greatly limited human thought.

Earnest students of Christian Science have approached college studies from a different point of view. They have met with a significant degree of success. It must be understood that this point of view concerns itself with an altogether higher level of thought. While the presently accepted system conceives of mentality as a function of the material brain, the Christian Scientist's method turns to the source of intelligent thought. This source is the divine Mind, which is another name for God. It would certainly be logical to draw upon the infinite, perfect source of understanding. This is what Christian Scientists are learning to do.

Mrs. Eddy explains, "Advancing to a higher plane of action, thought rises from the material sense to the spiritual, from the scholastic to the inspirational, and from the mortal to the immortal."^{Science and Health, p. 256;} Thus we find that the memory and understanding necessary for scholastic attainment should derive from inspiration rather than from some function of the brain. There is a clear glimpse of a spiritual source in the words from the Bible, "There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding."^{Job 32:8;}