Editorial August 11, 1973 Issue

Ambition and Spirituality

Geoffrey J. Barratt

Ambition and spirituality are not incompatible, as they may sometimes seem. Christian Science can resolve any apparent conflict between them in an entirely satisfying way. It can radically and rapidly change our thinking for the better and thereby improve our experience. "Through the accession of spirituality," Mrs. Eddy writes, "God, the divine Principle of Christian Science, literally governs the aims, ambition, and acts of the Scientist." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 204;}

Most human beings have ambitions of some kind. We may plan to give our children an outstanding education or aim for some degree of success in the fields of business or art or seek to wield political influence. Whatever our legitimate human ambition, we can be sure that our life will be more enriched by our spirituality than by anything else. Some, on the other hand, feel uneasy over lacking a well-defined aim. Each of us can find a solid ambition right now. We can gain through Christian Science a stronger purpose by developing spiritually. Moreover ambition to gain spirituality for itself alone is the highest aspiration we can have. A long time ago the Psalmist grasped the important relationship between these two attainments. He wrote, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." ^{Ps. 37:4;}

So, the cultivation of spirituality is our first need. How can we go about this? The acceptance of a scientific view of God and man can help immeasurably. Through Christian Science we learn that spirituality is natural to man. God is Spirit, and man, emanating from Spirit, is spiritual. And from the point of view of Science, his total sinlessness is never in question. The spirituality characterizing man in God's image is natural to us in the measure that we accept our divine identity.

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