Article July 4, 1988 Issue

Freedom from false accusation

Innocence, when established on a spiritual basis, can never be taken away from us.

Mary Barnes

One day I was surprised to find a member of the staff in the office where I worked weeping and obviously in great distress. Although I did not know her well, I couldn't refrain from going up to her and asking what the trouble was. Amid her tears she told me she had been accused of stealing something. When I asked if the accusation was true, she answered in the negative. I spontaneously exclaimed, "Then why on earth are you so upset?"

My question was unexpected. But, as a student of Christian Science, I was sure it was wrong and unnecessary for anyone to suffer for something she hadn't done. It is sin, not innocence, that brings suffering. In a few words I was able to explain something of these concepts to her, and when we parted she was much calmer. I later learned that she was exonerated of the false charge.

Innocence is always a sure defense, but how can we claim our exemption from the hurt of false accusations if we don't know we're innocent—if we are ignorant of our true, spiritual identity and just what that includes? To some extent we all suffer in different ways from the false belief that we are mortals born of mortals and from the inevitable penalties attached to this belief. That is why it is so important to understand man's spiritual freedom from this belief—this false accusation—of mortality.

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