Editorial August 9, 1969 Issue

Rule Out the Wrong "I"

Helen Wood Bauman

The ego, as it is generally understood, is the self, the conscious identity of anyone in contrast with other conscious identities, or selves. Only the ego can say "I," for only the "I" is conscious, and it is obviously individual. However, Christian Science reveals a great scientific fact—that God is the only Ego, because He is the only Mind. And man, the idea of Mind, reflects the one Ego as a distinct, individual entity. Mary Baker Eddy says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "The divine Ego, or individuality, is reflected in all spiritual individuality from the infinitesimal to the infinite."^{Science and Health, p. 336;}

In the light of this revelation, the student of Christian Science sees that he must be careful of the way he uses the little word "I." When he says "I" is he referring to himself as the reflection of the one Ego, which knows only good, or is he speaking as a false ego that has no connection with divine Mind? Is he speaking as the representative of the unreal opposite of the Mind that is God, of the carnal, or mortal, mind, which, according to the Scriptures, is "enmity against God"?^{Rom. 8:7;}

Mrs. Eddy says: "What is termed matter, being unintelligent, cannot say, 'I suffer, I die, I am sick, or I am well.' It is the so-called mortal mind which voices this and appears to itself to make good its claim."^{Science and Health, p. 210;}

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