Editorial June 16, 1986 Issue

When you long to share a constructive idea

BARBARA-JEAN STINSON

A teacher in a classroom longs to share the value of good literature with her high-school students, but they seem indifferent. An employee feels he has a useful plan that might improve safety procedures in his plant, but the boss seems interested only in profits. Parents want to see a son or daughter think seriously about the future, but their teen-ager shows little ambition. A social worker tries to show a family how they can improve their standard of living, but the old habits remain. Can Christian Science help in situations like these?

Yes, it can, but it approaches these difficulties in a way different from the usual method. Often we think we have to make others understand, listen, be receptive to what we have to say. Through persuasion, reason, or coercion we try to convince them of the value of what we think or believe. Christian Science teaches, however, that we don't have to put good ideas into other people. We have to recognize that good is already present in the consciousness of each individual.

Such a statement may seem odd if we judge by outward appearances. But each individual is so much more than he seems on the surface. To the physical senses man appears to be a mortal, a mind inside a body—and this mind may seem intelligent or obtuse, cooperative or uncooperative, according to a person's genetic or emotional makeup.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

God's kingdom: when will it come?