Article March 23, 1987 Issue

Discouragement is not legitimate

It can seem a long distance between
where we want to be and where we are
in our spiritual growth. How can
we not be discouraged if
the road seems long and arduous?

Rowland D. George

Have you ever felt inadequate when training for a new job or studying an unfamiliar academic subject? At first one may feel joy and anticipation at the prospect of advancement and learning new things. But sometimes first attempts at mastering new skills are met with failure and frustration, and discouragement creeps in. Most of us have known such feelings.

In the same way, when the truths of Christian Science first awaken us to man's spiritual possibilities, we feel great joy. But as we realize the immensity of the task of attaining genuine spiritual understanding, we stand humbled. Yet this very response may prove to be the humility that turns us to the embrace of divine Love, where despair of accomplishment dissolves in the strength of God's gentle leading.

John's Gospel tells of a prominent member of Jewish society, called Nicodemus, who was attracted by the unprecedented healings accomplished by Jesus of Nazareth, a previously unknown religious teacher. Approaching the Master and addressing him respectfully, he acknowledged that the reported miracles could only have been achieved by one inspired by God. Jesus, evidently recognizing the need to startle the inquirer's thought from the conviction that his life was inseparable from a material body, replied abruptly, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."^{John 3:3.} Nicodemus was amazed, understandably, because of the obvious impossibility of such a demand. Thinking in terms of a physical body, he could only express incredulity at the idea of being born again. But Jesus wasn't thinking or speaking in material terms. He knew that progress Spiritward depended on spiritual rebirth, a growing out of reliance on a physical body and material conditions.

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