Editorial February 10, 1986 Issue

Defeating selfishness

CAROLYN B. SWAN

There is no lasting satisfaction for anyone when selfishness gets its way. Selfishness may get the better of those who indulge it, but it cannot best those who refuse to give it power.

Whoever would utterly defeat selfishness must heal himself of believing in self-interest as a help or a hindrance to the unfolding of good. Mere willful countermeasures can't defeat this sin. What is required is a growing understanding of good as God, Spirit—as limitless and universal. Such growth involves dropping the mistaken conception of many egos, some domineering and some dominated. Becoming better acquainted with the one Ego, God, enables us to bring forth, through meekness and unselfishness, our true nature as Godlike, spiritual man.

The belief that there are many minds, manipulative and subject to manipulation, gives way to the conviction that one divine Mind actually governs all. This infinite Ego, or Mind, is Love, and Love is never expressed in ways that are inequitable or competitive. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy explains, "Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light."^{ Science and Health, p. 516.}