In the thirty-seventh psalm we read: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." One of the most subtle errors which seems to present itself to those who are striving to demonstrate the truth, in connection with every problem from the standpoint of Christian Science, is that of outlining. On page 1 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says, "Desire is prayer; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds." On page 591 of the same book, under the definition of Mind, we find: "Mind. The only I, or Us; the only Spirit, Soul, divine Principle, substance, Life, Truth, Love; the one God; not that which is in man, but the divine Principle, or God, of whom man is the full and perfect expression; Deity, which outlines but is not outlined."

When one is asked to treat a condition of disease, the practitioner may inadvertently form a mental picture of the seeming condition, and then outline the manner in which the condition will be overcome, as to whether it will disappear at once, or be gradually eliminated or dissolved. Having admitted the reality of the condition, and outlined how it is to be overcome, we expect divine Mind to heal the disease, as if infinite Mind would work merely according to our finite plans. On page 395 of Science and Health we find this: "It is mental quackery to make disease a reality—to hold it as something seen and felt—and then to attempt its cure through Mind. It is no less erroneous to believe in the real existence of a tumor, a cancer, or decayed lungs, while you argue against their reality, than it is for your patient to feel these ills in physical belief. Mental practice, which holds disease as a reality, fastens disease on the patient, and it may appear in a more alarming form."

If one desires to make a demonstration as to place, one cannot outline where he would like to be or thinks he should be and then expect divine Mind to put him in that place. Rather should we lift our thought in loving gratitude to God that man already has "every good gift and every perfect gift," because God's work is done, and it is perfect. Divine Love is not holding away from us something of good that we wish, tempting us with it, as one might hold a plaything before a child until he reached for it, and then snatch it away from him. It is the lust of mortal mind which tempts us. "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man," says the apostle James.

Sometimes students of Christian Science are heard to say: "I have demonstrated a position, a home, or an automobile." Spirit does not demonstrate matter. All that one can demonstrate is spiritual consciousness. We can demonstrate only that which is real and true, or that which is a scientific fact. As in mathematics we cannot prove that two times two equals five, because it does not, so in Christian Science we can prove only that which is true, which always has been true and always will be true. We can realize that man, as God's spiritual idea, is in his right place, because his place is in Mind, that he has always existed and always will exist in Mind, and therefore his every need is already supplied by his loving Father-Mother God. This realization will bring into human experience that which we seem to need, whether it be a position, a home, or the means to go about our Father's business. We have great cause for gratitude in the fact that all our needs are met by divine Principle. We cannot set our heart upon some material thing or condition, and then mesmerize ourselves into believing that we must have it simply because we wish it, and expect divine Mind to work it out for us. Through spiritualization of thought, our desires are "moulded and exalted," and we can safely leave them with Him who doeth all things well.

An experience of a number of years ago illustrates this point. In our home was a young lady who seemed unable to sleep. She would retire between ten and twelve o'clock at night and remain awake until five or six in the morning, when she slept for two or three hours. She asked for help in Christian Science. The demonstration was outlined by thinking she must be helped to sleep, and the work was done to that end, but there was no result. Conditions remained the same. Realizing that something was wrong in the way the work was being done, and recognizing the error, the way of working was reversed, thereby casting "the net on the right side of the ship." A very clear realization of a part of the 121st psalm came: "He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." The realization came that, since God did not sleep, God's image and likeness did not sleep, did not need to sleep, and was not dependent for harmony upon sleep, because the divine Mind gives man all true rest. The condition was immediately overcome, not by admitting the evidence of material sense, but by reversing it.

Not only would error seem to suggest outlining, but it would seem to have us put everything off into some future time, as that some other time, to-morrow, next month, or next year, we shall have more, know more, or be better, while the fact is that now is the only time there is. The past does not belong to us, it is gone. The future belongs to God, and He is taking care of it. Our work is to know this, and leave it to Him with no anxious thought, and by so doing, bring harmony into our future as well as our present experience. If we allow error to make us keep putting off until some future time the good we would experience to-day, that is all error would seem to wish to do, and we are allowing error to handle us. Outlining is one of the bad habits we seem to have been forming throughout our mortal lives, and we should be most grateful that we are being educated through Christian Science out of this bad habit, into the good habit of committing our way unto the Lord, and trusting also in Him, that He may "bring it to pass."

Copyright, 1921, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, Falmouth and St. Paul Streets, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.