Article December 18, 1978 Issue

Putting the false sense of self out of business

VIRGINIA F. DUNN

For the business man or woman nothing is more freeing than getting rid of a false sense of self. This false sense may destroy one's peace by fostering the feeling of being a personal success or a personal failure, or perhaps the victim of circumstances or of other people. It may even suggest that one is justified in using any legal methods in business—however morally questionable they may be—in order to provide for one's dependents.

Christian Science refutes this and gives us a higher sense of self and family. It explains that we are really expressions of infinite, divine Love; that our family members are actually God's children. In this way it gives us a basis for a higher standard of action.

This Science shows us how to obey the two great commandments on which Christ Jesus said "hang all the law and the prophets"; to love God supremely and to love another as oneself.^{See Matt. 22:35–40;} We love God, Spirit, by recognizing Him to be the only cause and therefore spiritual good to be the only effect, abundantly, infinitely present. Such understanding begins to destroy our belief in a material universe and man, and therefore in the necessity for sharp dealings. It makes clear that God requires us to obey His second command by being completely honest, kind, and compassionate toward others and by expecting them to be the same. Clearly recognizing God as the only creator makes such obedience spontaneous. We can love others as ourselves when we acknowledge our common, all-loving Parent and know that we and our fellow men and women have inherited only God's qualities.