Article April 12, 1969 Issue

Silencing Self

ELIZABETH BICE LUERSSEN

The "Self" family has many members. Some are aggressive and domineering: self-will, self-righteousness, self-justification, self-aggrandizement. Some are weak and undermining: self-pity, self-condemnation, self-consciousness. Some are subtly sinister: self-satisfaction, self-deception, and self-mesmerism.

A few members of the "Self" family appear desirable, such as self-control, self-reliance, self-respect, and self-completeness. However, if these rest on a mortal and material sense of self, they can never compare with the higher goals of divine control, of reliance on God, respect for Truth, completeness in God.

Christian Science teaches the wisdom and necessity of silencing the mortal self. Self-abnegation, self-immolation, self-renunciation, self-surrender, self-sacrifice, self-denial, self-forgetfulness, and selflessness are frequently referred to in the writings of Mrs. Eddy. The importance and the rewards of the unselfing process are pointed out in her statement, "To abide in our unselfed better self is to be done forever with the sins of the flesh, the wrongs of human life, the tempter and temptation, the smile and deceit of damnation." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 6;

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