Article August 12, 2019 Issue

Are we independent thinkers?

Mark Swinney

Sometimes people can seem to be pressuring us to stop thinking for ourselves—telling us what to believe regarding what we are, what we need, whom we are supposed to like and dislike, when we are supposed to be happy, and even when we are supposed to be sick or hurt!

Of course, there are lots of people we can trust to give us useful advice, but if seeking this advice causes us to check out mentally instead of thinking for ourselves, we can really miss out on learning—about all sorts of subjects. Take prayer, for instance. On the first page of her book on prayer and healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says, “The time for thinkers has come” (p. vii).

It’s by taking the time to think deeply about God’s nature and the makeup of God’s creation that we begin to gain a clearer understanding of God and of our true identity. Inspired thinking can be deep prayer. And such inspirational thinking goes beyond the human intellect. Physicist Albert Einstein once said, “I want to know how God created this world.… I want to know His thoughts…” (E. Salaman, “A Talk With Einstein,” The Listener 54, pp. 370–371).

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