Article June 10, 2019 Issue

The healing effect of true self-knowledge

John Biggs

It’s tough to overstate the role self-knowledge plays in our lives. There’s lots to say about it, but I’ve found something in Mary Baker Eddy’s writings especially interesting.

In her striking article “The Way,” found in Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, Mrs. Eddy writes about what it takes to grow in our understanding and practice of Christian Science: “This absolute demonstration of Science must be revived. To consummate this desideratum, mortal mind must pass through three stages of growth” (p. 355). She goes on to name and describe these three stages in detail: self-knowledge, humility, and love. Let’s take that first stage and really dive in.

In my practice of Christian Science, I’ve sometimes been tempted to think that the requirement to have self-knowledge is a barb of strong encouragement that I must pass along to another—something like, “If you’d just be more self-aware, then we’d be able to move past this.” But I’ve been learning that Mrs. Eddy’s wise counsel is not something designed for me to throw at other people in hopes that they’ll shape up. I have to follow this counsel myself!

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