Editorial May 12, 1980 Issue

To heal the hurt when opinions differ

BEULAH M. ROEGGE

When it comes to deciding how something should be done, there often is a wide range of opinions. And too often this threatens to disrupt friendships and the sweet sense of unity that can make working together so pleasant.

The basic spiritual fact is that it is the province of God to govern, and God is One. God is the one Mind, which each spiritual individuality reflects. The counterfeit of this all-good Mind is termed, in Christian Science, mortal mind, the carnal or material mind. As the divine Mind is one, this counterfeit mind is one, though it appears to be many.

So whenever differences of opinion threaten to disrupt friendship and harmony, we might well pause to consider that the argument may simply be this one mortal or human mind arguing with itself. Sometimes it's helpful to take the other side of the question and see how convincingly you can argue that point of view. We may quickly appreciate Mrs. Eddy's statement: "If we observe our mental processes, we shall find that we are perpetually arguing with ourselves; yet each mortal is not two personalities, but one."^{Unity of Good, p. 21;}