Article June 6, 1988 Issue

What do you mean, progress?

How we define progress is as important as taking the steps that really move us forward.

Gloria Christena

How many times in our lives we long for progress! How often we examine our experience to see how much and what kind of progress is being made. And who of us hasn't cried out in frustration, "You call that progress?!"

At times we all suffer downhill slides, and improvement seems a dim hope. So what do we do then? We can pray.

Once when I was praying about progress, a statement from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, came to mind. In speaking of the importance of daily proofs of Christian power, she writes: "These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil."^{Science and Health, p. 233.} It occurred to me to wonder about "gradual betterment"—my definition of progress at that point. A trip to the dictionary prompted me to rethink my view of progress.