Editorial September 24, 1984 Issue

Been criticized? Appreciate its blessings

BARBARA-JEAN STINSON

Criticism can bring a marvelous blessing—the opportunity for spiritual growth! It's possible not only to overcome resentment when we feel we've been rebuked or criticized, but to grow in dignity, self-worth, and spiritual grace.

Suppose an employer points out a need for improvement in one's work. The initial response might be an immediate reaction, "He doesn't like me" or "He just doesn't recognize good work." But we don't have to react that way. If we're praying for spiritual growth, our natural response can be a thoughtful reflection, "Does he have a good point? Is there something I need to learn that will help me?" The way we respond to criticism is a measure of our spiritual maturity.

Because she was a well-known public figure, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, received frequent criticism during her career for what she said and did. Yet her attitude toward this criticism is clearly indicated in Science and Health. She writes: "We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are. If a friend informs us of a fault, do we listen patiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are 'not as other men'? During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke. The wrong lies in unmerited censure,—in the falsehood which does no one any good." ^{Science and Health, pp. 8-9.}