Article April 1, 1972 Issue

Wagons and Stars

MARGARET C. DEAN

"Hitch your wagon to a star,"^{American Civilization;} was Ralph Waldo Emerson's advice.

Though wagons have been replaced by fastbacks, and stars are prosaically understood in their form and chemical content, still the sage's counsel is as exciting and impelling as ever. It is innate in man's nature to strive for a high goal. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives."^{Science and Health, p. 248;}

In an age of widespread material-mindedness the zeal of carving out "grand and noble lives" may seem outmoded. Some people point to the absurdity of life. Some just drop out, denounce all ambition to achieve or to contribute. They have no "wagons" and no "stars." But the scientific fact remains in Christian Science that man's true individuality is created for the glory of God and this real selfhood of every one of us lives to fulfill this God-ordained purpose.

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