Article May 8, 1978 Issue

Acceptance precedes being accepted

JOYCE M. REHR

If, at times, you feel out of place, unaccepted, it helps to ask yourself: Have I accepted? Have I accepted the truth of man as God made him, as the image of a loving Father? Or have I rejected this true picture of man and accepted only what the material senses testify to—a mortal counterfeit of man?

The Christ comes to destroy the false belief in a creation apart from God, in something besides His all-inclusive goodness. Mrs. Eddy gives us this definition of "Christ" in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health: "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error."^{Science and Health, p. 583;} As we let Christliness become active in our consciousness it spiritualizes our view of others and frees us to enjoy happy relationships.

If God is Spirit, perfect and all-powerful, and if He made man in His own likeness, then man must be perfect and spiritual also. Why, then, do we sometimes see others as unloving or thoughtless mortals who have not accepted us? Could it be that we ourselves need to exchange a false concept of man for a clearer understanding of how God created him?

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