Editorial July 19, 1982 Issue

Motives and success

WILLIAM E. MOODY

Selfish ambition, egotism, mere personal success, social prestige—these can be traps. Prompted by a fragile hope of finding contentment and comfort in matter, many people keep grasping desperately for material security or struggling to climb another rung in today's "upwardly mobile" society. Some may feel a persistent sense of lack or inferiority. Others may be pulled along by envy or human pride. Yet a self-centered desire for material gain, human influence, and domination stifles spiritual growth.

Christian Science provides a different perspective on the issue of success and points to the central importance of one's motives. When our individual goals—whether in business or any other area of human endeavor—emerge from a conscious and prayerful decision to follow unselfishly the example of Christ Jesus, the whole concept of what it means to succeed takes on a radically new dimension: the dimension of spiritual progress.

Then the accomplishments in our jobs or professions will give greater evidence of God's divine goodness and will be truly satisfying. The pursuit of mere material achievement in worldly affairs will drop its self-important status as one confronts the all-embracing commitment involved in a life of service to God. And as we pursue spiritual understanding we willingly make a consistent sacrifice of materiality for higher aims—relinquishing faith that matter can fulfill or sustain man's true identity and scientifically eradicating the false premise that life itself is material.

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