Article November 15, 1975 Issue

Painless Progress

GLORIA NOVAK CHRISTENA

The growth of mortal thought out of itself, from a material to a spiritual base, is an orderly process induced by divine Mind, God. It is both natural and inevitable, and it is most normal when it is most harmonious. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "There should be painless progress, attended by life and peace instead of discord and death."^{Science and Health, p. 224;}

Every day exerts its demand for some spiritual progression and provides the opportunity for it. It is necessary for us to recognize and meet whatever demand is being made on us at any particular stage of our spiritual growth, and to yield up errors of thought and practice. To the extent that this is done freely and willingly, it is a painless process. To the extent that we are reluctant or unwilling to recognize and dispose of false concepts and materialistic tendencies, there is an element of suffering.

Of course, no one wants suffering. But it is the nature of the carnal, or mortal, mind to resist the purifying action of Truth, and to the degree that we allow the carnal mind to dictate our attitudes toward progress, we find ourselves resisting growth. So we sometimes find this contradiction: that while we want to be relieved of suffering, we resist being healed of the cause of it, namely, the mistaken concepts of reality we are reluctant to relinquish.

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