Article November 26, 1984 Issue

The "things which are behind" and the "things ... prepared"

HELEN A. DEL NEGRO

The study and practice of Christian Science teach us how to sweep away those unhappy states of thought that frequently plague mankind—repetitive remorse and guilt about the past and fear of the future.

Mrs. Eddy writes, "We own no past, no future, we possess only now." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 12.} It is in this "now" that we do all our thinking. We may think about the past, we may think about the future. But our thinking is always done in the present—in the "now." This being the case, unnecessary, continuing guilt about the past and fear of the future are both amenable to scientific right thinking— not to be confused with positive thinking.

Scientific right thinking entertains thought that proceeds from the Mind which is God. It acknowledges only good as present, as having power, existence, and reality. The Apostle Paul points to the importance of accepting only right thinking as our own thought when he admonishes, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." ^{Phil. 2:5.} Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy puts it this way: "Our proportionate admission of the claims of good or of evil determines the harmony of our existence,—our health, our longevity, and our Christianity." ^{Science and Health, p. 167.}