In my junior year of high school, I suddenly found myself feeling like a failure—unworthy, alone, suffering with acne, struggling to succeed. My grades had fallen; I couldn’t focus; and I didn’t see much of a future for myself. And then, when the school counselor told me I wasn’t college material, it seemed as though the bottom had dropped out of my life.

The temptation to give in to self-pity and depression was very great at that point, but my parents, perhaps perceiving my need for an uplifting environment of thought, sent me to a Christian Science camp for the summer. What a blessing those weeks were! The camp directors and counselors saw each camper as God’s complete, perfect creation, having everything we needed to flourish and excel. It was a time filled with joyous activities, precious friendships, and satisfying accomplishments.

We need to carve away from consciousness anything that does not express the Godlike man exemplified by Christ Jesus.