Article January 23, 1971 Issue

"If only he would change!"

JOHN H. WILLIAMS

How often, when struggling with an inharmonious relationship with a wife or husband, son or daughter, business associate or friend, a person thinks, "Oh, if only he would change, if only he were more loving or cooperative or understanding, how much better things would be!" But often he doesn't change even after much reasoning, arguing, and entreating. Is there any way the discordant relationship can be corrected?

Yes, there surely is. But it must begin in one's own thinking, in one's concept of and attitude toward others. Christian Science shows that one's human experiences are the result of the thoughts one entertains. Persistently holding to the real, Godlike nature of man can bring harmony and cooperation. Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts."^{Science and Health, p. 261;}

If we are disturbed about the actions of another, the basic trouble is not what he is doing but what we are believing about him. We are disturbed by our own thoughts, really; hence correction must come within our own consciousness, reluctant though we may be to admit this. This is actually a comforting fact, for it is far easier to change our own thoughts than change the thinking of someone else.

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