Article November 7, 1994 ISSUE

Barking at an illusion?

Sylvia Messner

The puppy barked loudly and persistently at the glass doors to the patio, and I went to see what was outside. Upon closer examination, I realized she was barking at her own reflection in the glass. It was the only thing "out there" threatening her. I laughed when I saw this was a good example of being fooled by appearance.

Thinking further about the incident, I realized it explained something of what happens when we believe in a mind or intelligence other than God. In Christian Science, the term mortal mind is used to refer to this false sense of mind, the supposed opposite of the one Mind, God. This counterfeit of intelligence has no self-awareness; it is ignorant of itself. Just as the puppy was seeing her own reflection in the patio doors, which were acting as a mirror, so mortal mind sees its own images, its own beliefs and expectations. But they are illusions. In Science and Health Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, observes, "Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees" (p. 86).

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