Article January 30, 1971 Issue

What Is Ours?

AYLESA FORSEE

An eight-year-old boy collected words the way some children hoard marbles. Whenever he heard one that pleased him, he wrote it on a slip of paper. He so treasured his words that he locked them in a secret drawer and warned his sister to keep out of it.

We may be amused at the youngster's false sense of ownership. But at times we too may make false claims about what is ours or may be tricked by the belief that we need to possess material things and characteristics. What traits or qualities do we call ours? All around us we hear about patterned reactions and compulsive behavior. One person views a hot temper as an inherited quality. Another may explain contentiousness on the basis of astrology— "Aries people are just naturally aggressive."

These arguments are only mortal mind, the material sense of existence, defending itself. We do not, in fact cannot, possess traits supposedly fastened upon us by human nature, inheritance, or the influence of the stars. Our real, spiritual selfhood has a divine source. It expresses Love-inspired qualities.

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