Article June 25, 1990 Issue

How can we be "harmless as doves"?

Thought is where action begins. Are we conscious of what we're thinking?

Diane S. Staples

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion," we often hear it said. We can agree with this statement if it means that no one should try to force someone else to agree with him.

On the other hand, human opinions are often on subjects about which there is no final truth, and they're just as likely to be wrong as right. Many times our opinions are about other people: what they might be thinking, what we think they ought to be doing, how wrong they are, how disastrous it will be if things are done their way, and so on. Although the conventional view may be that we're entitled to such opinions (especially if we "keep our opinions to ourselves"), do even silent opinions like these really have a place in the Christian way of life? And, to get to the heart of the issue, are they really harmless?

One of Mrs. Eddy's important contributions to understanding mortal existence is her exposure of the effects of the silent operation of what she called mortal mind—the material consciousness supposedly resident in the brain. Anyone who has studied her writings has learned that thoughts are not passive. Even when a thought is not acted upon or spoken aloud, it may still have an effect. Mortal mind is frequently engaged in a kind of silent, negative mental chatter: self-righteous rehearsals of personal opinions; silent, imaginary arguments with others; negative predictions about this person or that situation. We're being naive if we think that, just because our thoughts are not being spoken aloud, nothing harmful is going on when we indulge in such thinking. Such thoughts can be harmful to the person holding them and to the one against whom they're directed if he doesn't know how to defend himself spiritually against aggressive thinking.

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